Bagnaia responds to Domenicali: I’m counting the days until the farewell

At Losail on Thursday, Pecco Bagnaia appeared before the few media outlets with the face of someone going through the toughest stretch of his season. The response came after Claudio Domenicali’s words, who at EICMA had hoped for an ending worthy of a story already closed with two world titles together with Ducati.

For the man from Turin, however, the meaning of this ending is not only about the result of the last weekend. Bagnaia brought the discussion back to the path built in red, to the growth within the team and to a Desmosedici that, in his telling, marked an era. The point is not just to defend a placing: it is to defend what remains of years of work and of a bond that is now fading away.

At Sepang, meanwhile, the weekend left him with another wound. In Malaysia he had hoped for a turning point, as in 2025, but he finished sixth in Saturday’s Sprint and thirteenth in Sunday’s long race, more than thirty seconds behind Marc Marquez, winner with the same Desmosedici GP. After that passage, the next stop is the Qatar Grand Prix, with the feeling of a story heading towards the final corner.

Pride and rifts

Bagnaia lined up his thoughts on Sky Sport MotoGP with clear words: «The difference between the Pecco who used to win at Sepang and the one now is the bike». Then he added another phrase that lays bare the moment: «I’m counting the days until the farewell». In between, there remains the conviction of having built something that cannot be erased by a bad weekend.

For this reason, his ending does not look like surrender, but like a separation that weighs heavily. Eight seasons at Borgo Panigale are coming to an end and, while the paddock looks ahead to the next appointments, Bagnaia is mainly letting the value of what has been done emerge. At Losail, the scene is this: a rider who does not raise his voice, but measures the distance from a bike and a team that have marked the highest part of his career.