Francesco Bagnaia discusses his 'fantastic weekend' at the Japanese Grand Prix after he returned to winning ways.
The 2025 MotoGP World Championship had been a terrible season for Francesco Bagnaia, as heading into the flyaways, he only had a Grand Prix victory to his name.
However, the Japanese Grand Prix saw Bagnaia return to his best as he claimed pole position and won the Sprint Race on Saturday and the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Bagnaia had superior pace around the Twin Ring Motegi and set the pace across the Grand Prix on Sunday. However, there were nerves for the Italian as his Ducati began smoking during the race, but he did not get any sanction for the mechanical issue.
"Honestly, I did not see it, and I did not know my bike was smoking," Bagnaia told TNT Sports after the Japanese Grand Prix.
"The only difference I was feeling was in the last four or five laps, I felt less performance out of some corners, but I did not understand why.
"After the race, I saw the video, and it was smoking quite a lot. Luckily, I did not get any sanction for it; in that case, I would have been very angry.
"It has been a fantastic day, and a fantastic weekend, but all the spotlights should be on Marc [Marquez] as he has had an amazing season, and has had amazing results in all the races. He has been super competitive, super fast, and unmatchable."
Bagnaia had to watch on as his factory Ducati teammate, Marc Marquez, clinched his ninth Grand Prix World Championship at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The three-time Grand Prix Champion 'admires' what Marquez has done, but still believes the 'best version' of himself can fight with the Spaniard.
"He went through many difficult moments, it is not easy to imagine that after what happened in 2019, that he would be back," Bagnaia explained.
"What he has done is amazing; we just have to admire what he has done, and for me, it has been a lesson this season. I want to fight with him, because I think the best version of me can fight with him, so we need to find a way to have this kind of fight."
