#DutchGP

  ¬  June 29th 2026

NETHERLANDS ON THE RISE…. BUT WITH A HAPPY ENDING AND A BABY BOY TO CELEBRATE

Pecco Bagnaia knows full well that the Netherlands is famous for two things: vast flatlands and tulips. Hills? Not a chance. A country as flat as they come, with large areas even lying below sea level. Yet over the past weekend, this corner of the Netherlands proved that, metaphorically speaking, it can still present long, steep, exhausting climbs. Pecco knows that now too, because what initially looked like a fairly promising race weekend ultimately ended in a way no one had hoped for.

His performance was below par and ended in a retirement from Sunday's race due, once again, to a technical issue. That's it, as the most fatalistic and blunt observers would say... Things went better in Moto2, where our Suomy rider, Ivan Ortolà, secured an excellent fifth-place finish. Would he have hoped for more after his stunning victory in Brno? Yes, but that's it!

What really matters at the end of this round is not the sporting result, but the happy news of the arrival of little Oliviero, son of Domizia and Pecco. The entire Suomy team is delighted and wishes the Bagnaia family all the best. Congratulations, guys!

Francesco Bagnaia #63 Ducati Lenovo Team - 5º

"It was an eventful session. I expected a bit more from the first run with the soft tyre, but a change we made didn't work as we had hoped, so we went back to the previous setup and also opted for the medium rear tyre. In the third run, with a used medium tyre, the feeling was better. During the first time attack I wasn't comfortable with the rear, while on the second attempt I found yellow flags. When I went back out after the red flag, with a tyre already on its fourth lap, I didn't think I'd be able to make it into Q2, but I pushed as hard as I could and in the end we posted a good lap. The main goal for tomorrow is to secure a front-row start."

SPRINT RACE

Second in Free Practice, after having a time attack cancelled because of yellow flags, Bagnaia made the most of his final attempt and qualified fifth. In other words: he lined up in the middle of the second row. A solid starting position to try and gain places from the very first corner, which at Assen is a right-hander.

On paper, that was the plan... and rightly so! But every start tells its own story, and in the Assen Sprint our Pecco began to realize that there really are plenty of uphill battles in the Netherlands. At Turn 1, Bagnaia found himself down in seventh place. He managed to move up to sixth, but while trying to take fifth position he exceeded track limits at the final chicane and was handed a one-position penalty.

– Sprint Race 7° –

"With a better start, the race would have been very different, but I made a small mistake that almost resulted in a jump start. We had good pace, as we have had in every session so far, but unfortunately it took me a while to get past Marc. Once I overtook him, I was able to catch Martín very quickly. As for the position I lost, on the exit I had to move slightly to the inside because I was almost about to run into him, as he was slower on corner exit. Half of my tyre was on the kerb, but the penalty was still applied. For tomorrow we need to solve a small issue concerning the vibrations I'm feeling at Turns 7 and 15, but apart from that the pace is good and we're competitive on the medium tyre."

RACE

We said it before: one uphill battle after another. From fifth in qualifying, to seventh in the Sprint, to a "DNF" in Sunday's race. Since 2022 at Assen, Pecco had always finished on the podium, often on the top step. But 2026 has been a season full of twists and turns.

The race had actually started well, with our Pecco tucked in behind his teammate during the opening stages. Then came an overtake on Marc on lap ten, a move that looked set to earn Pecco a solid fourth place. But, as we've said, Assen 2026 was all about uphill battles. Five laps later, Bagnaia began suffering from a serious technical issue that made it impossible to slow the bike down and stop it properly through the slower corners. At that point, there was nothing left to do but retire.

At the end of the tenth Grand Prix of the season, Francesco Bagnaia sits eighth in the standings, 23 points behind his teammate.

– Race DNF –

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) 

"I certainly didn't expect to end the race with a retirement. After the Sprint I had very positive feelings for the full-distance race, and we had the potential to be competitive. I got a decent start, tried to stay in touch with the leaders straight away and planned to recover a few positions during the closing stages while battling in the group. But I wasn't riding the way I wanted to—I was struggling to slow the bike down and get it stopped. Just after halfway through the race, unfortunately, the situation became too difficult to manage and there was no way I could continue. I'm really disappointed to have ended the weekend like this, especially here at Assen."