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Francesco Bagnaia suffered his fifth retirement in the last six MotoGP Grands Prix at Portimao to cap off another difficult weekend.

The only silver lining to his Portugal Grand Prix is that he’s one week away from being able to sign off from a miserable MotoGP campaign. His hopes of finishing in the top three of the riders’ standings have been dashed, and his eyes will be firmly set on 2026.

Bagnaia has tried everything to fix his woes this season, as have Ducati. Unfortunately, they have failed to stumble upon a sustainable solution, and face a lot of work over the winter to make sure that they come back much stronger.

Michele Pirro has been ‘amazed’ by Bagnaia and the way that his moods have changed throughout the season. Pirro thinks Bagnaia will be better in 2026 and doesn’t expect his issues to continue, which suggests that the GP25 might have been his biggest nemesis this year.

READ MORE: Francesco Bagnaia may soon have the perfect opportunity to leave Ducati and revive his MotoGP career

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Francesco Bagnaia ‘needs’ a new bike after Portugal Grand Prix crash

After facing one of the toughest challenges of his career, Marc Marquez has ‘demoralised’ Bagnaia and left the Italian’s reputation in a worse place. The talk before the season was about the prospect of a terrific title fight between the two. Now, that feels like a distant memory.

Bagnaia was right all along about Ducati’s bike and the differences between the GP24 that he was so successful on, and the GP25 were clear to be seen. For 2026, TNT Sports’ Michael Laverty thinks that Bagnaia ‘needs’ an entirely new bike.

“It was a different crash today,” he said. “Over the hill, the top of turn 10. You unload a little bit as the fork extends, over the rise. He has been trail braking, and it has just let go on him.

“Not what we would have seen from Pecco last year, but we’ve seen it all too often of late on the GP25. He just wants to get next weekend out of the way. He needs the season over.

“He needs a new bike, a new combination of parts from Ducati to give him what will be a GP26, we imagine the best of the 24 and the best of the 25, together, and hope to see the Pecco of old back. Tough, tough times, but it won’t last. He will be back.”

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Where Francesco Bagnaia desperately needs to improve in 2026

Although Bagnaia’s pace has improved recently and there are signs that his confidence has picked up once more, he isn’t registering the results expected of him.

That’s because he keeps retiring from races, which is costing him a lot of ground in the championship race.

In 2026, it would be safe to presume that he cannot afford to have another run of five retirements in six Grands Prix if he wants to compete for a third title.

Bagnaia feels ‘everything’ is happening to him, but a fresh start and new bike could be the keys to unlocking his potential again from January onwards.