Michael Scott | September 28, 2022
Cycle News In The Paddock
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Advantage Pecco? Time for Ducati Team Orders
Anything can happen. That’s sport for you, and seldom more so than in MotoGP 2022, where the previous five races upended the championship battle.
Pecco Bagnaia failed to win a fifth in a row in Aragon, but only by four-hundredths. More importantly, over the Dutch, British, Austrian, San Marino and Aragon rounds, the Lenovo Ducati rider has made 120 points. Defending champion Fabio Quartararo, by now looking exhausted by his Herculean efforts on the gutless Yamaha, has added just 39.
Pecco Bagnaia (left) hugs future teammate Enea Bastianini at Aragon. Will Ducati team orders play a role in this year’s MotoGP outcome?
Writing this without knowing the results of Sunday’s Japanese GP doesn’t necessarily change much the way things have been going, and certainly doesn’t change the one fly in the ointment for the six-times 2022 winner Bagnaia—all too often, he is not the fastest man on a Ducati.
It happened again at Aragon.
Enea Bastianini, riding the year-old model on which Bagnaia beat Marquez last year (his first win), took his own fourth win of the year after yet another masterful ride, showing his best pace when it really matters—in the closing stages.
Last time he hunted Bagnaia down was at Misano a fortnight ago. He only narrowly failed to win, by 0.034 of a second. The previous time was at Le Mans, where an overstressed Bagnaia fell off.
Bastianini claimed his first win early in the season, at Qatar’s opening round; a second three races later in the USA. The third was at Le Mans, where he had already passed long-time leader Bagnaia when the older rider made that costly unforced error.
That and other early errors (crashes at Qatar and in Germany) are now far behind Bagnaia. His recent progress has been compelling. Before the Dutch TT, last race before the summer break, he was only sixth overall, 81 points behind the French Yamaha rider. He went to the flyaway races a slender 10 points adrift.
Aleix Espargaro is also still a credible challenger, only 17 points behind the leader. With five races to go and 125 points on the table, the championship was wide open. But Quartararo the greatest rival.
The defender’s Assen crash was all his own fault. Aragon was just rotten luck: a crowded track and nowhere to go when Marquez slowed inches in front of him.
That the Repsol Honda was in front was in itself significant. Marc’s racing return had already been distinguished by one spectacular save and one gung-ho crash. The maestro was back and making waves. Fabio was sixth on the grid, Marc 13th, but in 300 yards or less, Marquez had gotten in front of Quartararo. A reminder that Quartararo (and Joan Mir before him) were World Champions only in his absence.
But Marc’s half-season absence means he is not a factor now.
Fortunately for his remaining chances, Quartararo suffered only superficial injuries in his second no-score this year—always a matter of luck, because his bike hit him hard when he was down, and the zipper on his leathers broke as he slid along. It was only his second non-finish of the year. Bagnaia has had double that number and only later in the season has been able to keep a cool head.
It’s hard to predict the final races, since all four of them—Japan, Thailand, Australia and Malaysia—have been off the calendar for two years.
Back in 2019, both the main rivals were rookies, and Quartararo was stronger: second at Motegi and Thailand, seventh in Malaysia; Bagnaia fourth in Australia, out of the top 10 elsewhere.
Much has changed since then, especially in how competitive the Ducati has become, and the opposite for Quartararo’s Yamaha. He has been extraordinary on the bike this year, badly outclassed on speed and acceleration, which will count heavily in Thailand, but he’s been able to exploit his corner speed, which changes the balance somewhat at Motegi and Malaysia, and by plenty in Australia.
Ducati’s great strength is in having at least three very strong riders, so they could secure a third successive Constructors’ Championship, which they did at Aragon.
It’s also a weakness if riders take points away from one another, especially if they take wins away.
Ducati boss Paolo Ciabatti, questioned about team orders, until now not issued, remained vague, but admitted “it is time to start thinking about the riders’ title.” It would be only their second and their first since 2007.
Bagnaia’s public reaction is proud: he doesn’t want anybody to help him, thanks very much.
But Bastianini’s position is more complicated. Just days before that Misano confrontation, he had the news he’d been waiting for most of the season. Next year, he will leapfrog the previously preferred candidate Jorge Martin to take the factory seat alongside Bagnaia.
Unless he was to win it himself—unlikely although mathematically possible—preventing his future teammate from becoming champion would make it an uncomfortable partnership. CN
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