Ducati-Pecco Bagnaia: Possible Disciplinary Action Following the Off-Air Incident; Rumors of Replacement

The crisis between Pecco Bagnaia and Ducati took another sad turn at Misano, where the Piedmontese rider had a disastrous weekend at one of his favorite tracks, ending with a crash as he desperately fought to finish in the points. All this while his teammate Marc Marquez dominated the race and surged to the top of the world championship standings.

At the end of the race, Bagnaia—looking more lost than usual—said he was in ninth or tenth place and couldn’t “do anything anymore, from entering the corner to the line, to the braking point.” To complicate matters, an off-air comment broadcast by DAZN Spain surfaced, in which Pecco complained to Di Giannantonio about his difficulties with the bike: “Use the normal setup? They won’t let me.”

The off-air comment caused a stir on social media, and according to reports in *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, Ducati is annoyed by what’s been happening. Among the rumors is one—currently unimaginable—of a mid-season rider change: a sensational substitution for the final stretch of the season with Nicolò Bulega, who is now on the verge of winning the Superbike championship.

The rider from Emilia could clinch the SBK championship by the end of September, and could therefore make himself available for the final races with the factory team if Bagnaia (set to join Aprilia in 2027) were to part ways with Ducati early. In any case, Bulega will be riding a MotoGP bike next year: he’ll be with the VR46 team.