So the same, but so (so) different. The Ducati Desmosedici GP22, which is riding with Michele Pirro during the Sepang tests reserved for test riders and rookie riders, has attracted a lot of attention because the Borgo Panigale bike, curated by Gigi Dall’Igna, is an advanced evolution of the GP21. who has won four GPs in the last six and finished last season with a hat-trick from Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Jack Miller in Valencia.
In the Malaysian pits there are two Ducatis and the comparison between the old and the new highlights an infinity of small and large changes that give the perception of the painstaking work that has been done around the new engine that has the ambition to find more power. maximum, without losing anything in driveability. In short, squaring the circle …
Michele Pirro, Ducati Team with the GP21
Photo by: MotoGP
Michele Pirro, Ducati Team GP 22
Photo by: MotoGP
The aerodynamics are very accurate: both the wings of the fairing and the flow deviators on the sides of the hull have changed shape. On the GP21 the two overlapping profiles had a greater light, while now they have been brought closer together and the profiles are more rounded: in particular the lower leading edge is more pronounced around the airbox which seems larger and without the blowing that characterized the 2021 version. The upper profile, on the other hand, highlights a step that has been made more evident.
Michele Pirro, Ducati Team
Photo by: MotoGP
The omega shape of the flow conveyors on the sides of the hull has also changed, bringing this solution to be more trapezoidal: the feeling is that in the work carried out in the tunnel a lower resistance to advancement was sought, while trying to maintain the values of load already reached. Another example of this working philosophy is given by the side fairings of the front fender much more slender and devoid of the two air intakes that can be seen on the GP21.
Completely different are also the two lower “ears” which have the task of cleaning up the turbulence generated by the front wheel and serve to improve the fluid dynamics inside the fairing.
The Ducati Desmosedici GP22 equipped with long exhausts
Photo by: MotoGP
At the rear, the long exhausts that had already been seen in the Misano tests are striking, which are perfectly in tune in the search for more power at the top. It is curious to observe the fixing system of the lower terminal equipped with a tilting link. What is it for?
The new exhausts of the Ducati Desmosedici GP22
Photo by: MotoGP
Completely new design of the tail, certainly more tapered at the top, but undoubtedly more conspicuous at the bottom: is there a larger mass damper or more electronics inside?
Tail of the Ducati Desmosedici GP22
Photo by: MotoGP
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