It is a smiling Pecco Bagnaia who greets the Misano tests, but it could not be otherwise. The Ducati rider, fresh from four consecutive victories, is experiencing the best moment of his career and even in the two days of testing that followed the Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera he found positive indications from the updates introduced for his Desmosedici GP.
While Yamaha are looking for horses at home, Ducati is still looking for mileage and agility, so the innovations were mainly related to the frame. And a step forward seems to have actually taken place, as the vice-world champion explained at the end of the day on Wednesday.
“We are working in the opposite direction of Yamaha. We have to look for more travel speeds and a bike that closes the corners better. I think we are doing a good job, that we are improving a lot. Compared to last year we have lost a bit of top speed to be faster on the way. But we are continuing to move in that direction, “said Bagnaia.
“Right now we are only working on the frame and trying to have a better feeling with the bike. From the outside it may seem that our bike is perfect, but when it comes to driving and closing the lines we still lose compared to the Yamaha. . As I said, even if we lose some top speed, we prefer to have more agility and stability. Because top speed is important, but it’s not the most important thing. “
Then he argued his theory also giving some data: “On some tracks we lost even 6 km / h on the straight, but we went faster. Speed is not everything, so let’s try to have a bike that is easier to ride, because the ours is quite difficult. ” And about how this top speed was lost, he added: “We lost them aerodynamically. If you look at last year’s fairing it was huge, while this year’s is much more tapered.”
Yesterday he also did quite a particular job, trying to bring both bikes he uses on race weekends to the same level. “In the last few races I struggled to have the same feeling with the two bikes, but yesterday we found the problem: it was a stupid thing and now it’s ok. It wasn’t such a serious thing, because I could also use the other bike, but the my feeling was slightly worse. But now we have solved it. “
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: MotoGP
Today, however, we saw him struggling with a new device on the clutch lever, obviously aimed at trying to further improve the starts: “It’s just a different type of lever, which has less travel, but I prefer the standard one”.
Yamaha seems to have actually taken a step in terms of top speed with the new engine, because in this morning’s session Fabio Quartararo was even in third place in the top speed ranking. The Piedmontese, however, prefers to look at the work that Ducati has to do rather than anything else.
“In the end, I always try not to look at other people’s things. It’s easy to say that the Suzuki has more travel speed, that the Yamaha is more stable and more agile and that the Honda brakes better. But that’s not what we need. : we have to think about our bike. I think our bike is very good, very constant and very balanced, but it lacks a lot of driveability that other bikes have. “
One of the themes of these two days was Marc Marquez’s return to the bike three months after his fourth operation on his right arm. Bagnaia does not have too many doubts about the next stages, because he is convinced to see him back on track next weekend at Motorland Aragon.
“Marc I only met him while I was scrubbing the rain, but he did exactly what I expected, so we are ready to see him in Aragon. He is in a situation where he has to train physically and the only thing he needs is to ride the MotoGP. In the end I think he will be there and maybe he will struggle a bit more in the race. “
In the end then he was instigated about his situation in the classification, telling him that it is the “easier” since he is obliged to win and not make mistakes to try to close the gap of 30 points further on Fabio Quartararo.
“Let’s say that winning is the hardest thing. If I had a 30-point advantage right now, I’d be happier. My situation is to work well and always try to do my best, earning points. Also feeling a little doomed, or at least driven, to have to win or at least to make the podium to earn points. Fabio, on the other hand, right now, even if he was second in all the races, I would have to win them all. So it’s difficult “, he concluded.
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