Bagnaia 50-50 on new Ducati MotoGP engine amid inferior braking

Francesco Bagnaia says he is only 50% sure about Ducati's 2025 MotoGP engine due to the negative impact it has had on braking performance.

Two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia has been trialling a new motor developed by Ducati during this week's Sepang test, but his initial reaction so far has been mixed.

On one hand, the Italian has been thoroughly impressed by the increased power and the smoother power delivery, which has resulted in improving the acceleration and the top speed of the Desmosedici.

However, braking is one area where the GP25 continues to lag behind its championship-winning predecessor, and this has compromised the bike on corner entry as well.

Getting the engine right before the start of the season is extremely crucial for Ducati, with a new two-year development freeze meaning no changes can be made to the engine once it is homologated.

"We are focusing more on the engine," said Bagnaia. "We did a step in front today [compared to Wednesday].

"The power delivery is very smooth and we like it a lot. It's the first time that a new engine is that smooth in terms of acceleration and this is great.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

"But even if we have closed a bit of gap, in terms of braking it is still a bit far from the GP24. For tomorrow we have to close that gap and try to understand which way we are doing it.

"This test is very important because what we say from the test will last two years and that decision is very important."

Braking was always a very strong point of the GP24, allowing riders to stop later and enter the corners well. It's for that reason that Bagnaia has doubts over whether Ducati will ever be able to replicate the same performance in 2025.

Asked to explain how sure he was about the 2025 engine choice, Bagnaia added: "At the moment, 50-50.

"The thing is the GP24 is a fantastic base and we all feel that it still has some margin. The GP25 is already very fast, and good on straights and acceleration.

"You can [reach] top speed only when the bike is exiting well from the corners and this is the case, because [the acceleration] is very smooth and you can manage the acceleration a lot with the throttle.

"But in braking the GP24 was out of this world because we were doing something incredible on braking and this is something that is difficult to reach at the moment with the '25, even if we close the gap [to the '24 in the coming days]."

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia clarified that he is gaining time on Sepang's long straights due to its superior acceleration and top speed, but the time loss from inferior braking performance was far greater.

"All the [Ducati] bikes are accelerating [well] out of the corners. We have to say that acceleration is working better for me than all the rest and is helping to have a bit of a gap," he explained.

"But the gap here in acceleration is not the same to the gap you can have on riding, braking and entry. So we have to balance it a bit.

"In this moment what we are gaining on acceleration is a bit less compared to what we are losing on braking."