Francesco Bagnaia: “I’m coming” after wet COTA practice sees gap to Marquez grow

The 2025 MotoGP championship has reached its third round of the year as the circus arrives at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. After a dominant run from Marc Marquez so far this season, Francesco Bagnaia finds himself playing catch up. But after Friday's practice session, the rider is keen to make up the time he's losing to his rival.

Despite securing a place in Q2 after finishing Friday's practice in P10 on the timesheet, Pecco was a concerning 1.530 seconds behind Marquez, who led with a time of 2:02.929. This came after a highside crash for the Spaniard.

"We'll see. He is definitely as fast as ever, but the race is tomorrow so we'll see tomorrow," he said. 

"How much margin have I kept? A lot," Bagnaia confirmed. "I didn't want to risk it, although I risked a lot because with the soft tyre I couldn't make certain corner entries. I have already looked at the data of those who exploited it well, that is Marc, and I lost so much in all the entry phases, where I felt it closed too much.

"The important thing, as I said, was to be in the top ten and I managed to do that."

Friday's session took place in very wet conditions, with this throwing off his team-mate. But this didn't affect the rider.

"No, because I saw how he entered the corner: he was leaning too much and with a lot of speed. Even though the track has a lot of grip, I was calm."

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

He continued, adding that this is the best he's felt so far this season.

"From the fact that I feel good and comfortable. Not like the other times when I was struggling more. I know how hard I pushed and I saw how hard the others pushed, so I'm pretty calm. Do I feel better compared to the other two Grands Prix? Yes. Definitely yes. We are working to make sure that I am getting better and better and we are going in the right direction."

After a disappointing season start for Bagnaia, he's pushing himself to return to the very top of the grid.

"I know my potential, I know where I can go and I think the others know that as well and they know that what I'm having are not my top results. I know I have time, I’m coming, and I don't want to put extra pressure on myself."