MotoGP legend and team owner Valentino Rossi has called on Ducati to "put in the same effort" as his protege Pecco Bagnaia to recover performance on Bagnaia's side.

Bagnaia ended a long Ducati MotoGP title drought in 2022 and backed this up with another title in 2023, but was conclusively displaced as Ducati's lead rider upon Marquez's arrival last year.

A very emotional and difficult 2025 campaign clearly damaged the commitment between Bagnaia and Ducati, and Ducati moved to replace him with Pedro Acosta - a move (which is believed to have succeeded) that it clearly began negotiating before the start of racing in 2026.

Bagnaia, who is set to move to Aprilia next year, is ninth in the standings this season - in a campaign that has so far looked a whole lot like his erratic 2025, though with lower highs and higher lows.

But he was backed strongly by Rossi, his mentor but also the owner of the VR46 team that partners with Ducati, during a relatively rare Rossi appearance in the paddock at the Catalan Grand Prix.

After a sprint in which Bagnaia worked his way from 13th on the grid to sixth, Rossi lauded his protege's "really good attitude" in 2026 in an interview with Sky Sports Italia.

Bagnaia is "really giving it his all", Rossi insisted, citing what he has seen behind the scenes in their training together. "He's truly determined to win again with Ducati - which is the right attitude, and you can see the fruits [of his labour]. At Le Mans he had a weekend of the Madonna [fantastic]."

Bagnaia's French Grand Prix (after a second place in the sprint) ended with a crash from that same place, caused by what Rossi described as "a brake issue". That mirrored what Bagnaia had said after the race, though supplier Brembo insisted in the aftermath that "no anomalies" were found on the braking system, and Bagnaia claimed at Barcelona that whatever was going on has been resolved and hadn't been a technical issue.

"The season is still long, and Pecco probably won’t be racing with Ducati next year," Rossi continued.

"I’d like to also see Ducati put in the same effort as Pecco to try to return to the front. 

"It’s like in a marriage in which you loved each other very much, bad things happened like last year - there are no results, or there are statements from Pecco... I could see that things cooled a lot, you know?

"However, Pecco is trying - and I hope that everyone at Ducati tries, too, because the potential to win again is there, in my opinion."