Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team secure direct seed to Q2 at Phillip Island, Michele Pirro finishes twenty-first

• Michele Pirro, stepping in for the injured Marc Márquez, is confirmed also for the GP of Sepang

The Ducati Lenovo Team completed the opening day of action at the Phillip Island Grand Prix in Australia, for what is the fourth-last event of the 2025 MotoGP season. Francesco Bagnaia wrapped up Practice in ninth place, while Michele Pirro — who stepped in for the injured Marc Márquez — finished the afternoon session in twenty-first position.

Bagnaia, seventh in Free Practice 1, made his way back to seventh position in the final moments of Practice and was eventually ninth at the flag. Pirro, who made his season debut in MotoGP and will also tackle the GP of Malaysia next week, was twenty-first in both sessions and crashed unhurt in the closing stages of Practice.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will resume proceedings tomorrow morning at 10:10 local time (GMT +11) for Free Practice 2, followed by Q1 at 10:50 and Q2 at 11:15. The nineteenth Sprint of the season will be contested over a 13-lap distance from 15:00.

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 9th
“I’m happy with the direct seed to Q2. The first time attack didn’t go well, so the second one was crucial. I almost lost the front at turn nine and that cost me three tenths of a second, but I managed to stay focused and push up to the finish line, so I’m satisfied. We still have a lot of work to do: today we had some feeling issues with one of the two bikes, and we need to improve the front-end stability. The team is already at work to find a solution.”

Michele Pirro (#51 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 21st
“It was a challenging start, as it’s not easy to be back racing at Phillip Island after several years. It’s a pity that I lost the front at turn five during my time attack at the end of Practice, which prevented me from improving my lap-time. Surely the feeling got better lap after lap, despite the strong wind that didn’t help. We’ll try to make further steps forward tomorrow.”