Neil Morrison | January 24, 2023
Aside from the somewhat labored revelation that its two reigning World Champions—Pecco Bagnaia in MotoGP and Alvaro Bautista in WorldSBK—will run the number-one plates during their respective title defenses, the real interest at Ducati’s swanky 2023 team launch was seeing the two men who battled hardest on track last year wearing the same colors and talking openly about their hopes for the MotoGP season ahead.
Pecco Bagnaia (left) and Enea Bastianini (right) were officially introduced as Ducati’s MotoGP teammates.
No one pushed Bagnaia harder on track than Enea Bastianini did throughout 2022, a year when the pair shared 11 wins between them. Riding in Gresini Ducati colors on a year-old bike, Bastianini consistently gave the impression that leaving a mark on his future teammate in high-tension battles at Misano, Aragon and Sepang was of greater importance than the greater good of Ducati—a development that enriched the final chapters of last year’s series, even if it appeared to shorten the lifespan of Ducati management.
Replacing genial Jack Miller, many have predicted there will be none of the same friendliness from the past two years in the Ducati garage now that Bastianini is adorned in factory red. But, speaking at the launch held in a ski resort in Madonna di Campiglio in Northern Italy, all involved in the project were keen to stress the intensity witnessed in last year’s key battles will be more restrained and respectful throughout the 21 races ahead.
“We’ve known each other for a long time, from when we were racing with the pocket bikes,” said Bagnaia, when asked to describe his new teammate. “The correct answer is he’s a bastard,” came the quip. “But no, he’s a smart and very competitive guy. We want the same thing, and we will do the maximum to achieve it. So, the battle between us will be intense, but we have to be intelligent and respectful to have a good relationship.
“It’ll be different because with Jack, everything was settled already. With Enea, everything starts from zero and the battle of last year made a lot of noise. We are both Italian, people are always searching for duels. So, it’s more from outside, this pressure. But it wasn’t like this. We have a great relationship. We were always speaking. It will be very important to be smart this year, to understand that we have to [work] together to be in front and then in the race is another story. Everyone can do what they want to do, but in the box, we have to work well and I think we are smart enough to understand that.”
Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti was also keen to stress the new responsibilities Bastianini has this year. “The relationship with Pecco and Jack was a special one,” Ciabatti said. “They were also teammates in Pramac for two years before. I would say I never saw something similar in all my career between the two teammates.
“Now Enea is in a factory team. When you’re in a factory team, you’re going to have the same material, the same technical support, but also responsibilities that maybe you don’t feel in an independent team. I expected it to be more manageable [than it was] last year, because when you’re racing for an independent Ducati team, there is probably always an extra motivation to compete with the factory guys.”
As well as competing in the same team as the World Champion, Bastianini must adapt to Ducati’s GP23 as well as the new squad around him. Alberto Giribuola, his crew chief of the past two years, has defected to KTM. Marco Rigamonti, formerly Johann Zarco’s right-hand man, is now in the Italian’s corner, a relationship that may take some time to foster.
“The first contact with the ’23 bike [at Valencia in November] was good, and I think I will be closer and in the next test when we try some new parts,” said Bastianini, who acknowledged improving his speed in the early laps of the race is a priority for the year ahead. “I have a new crew chief this year and my approach during the test at Valencia was cool. We know during the season can arrive some problem, but I have to always stay focused. The factory [team] approach will be a little bit different. But I’m not nervous about this, only motivated and supercharged!”
Ducati’s strategy with its MotoGP bikes in 2023 is to leave well enough alone. However, Bagnaia will wear the number-one plate, which is a rarity in MotoGP.
The presentation also revealed Ducati has no plans to revolutionize its MotoGP racer for the upcoming year, hinting it has learned valuable lessons from the past. “[In previous years] we had to take a lot of risks. But last year taught us some breaks from development can help us,” General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna, said. While the search for extra horsepower is never-ending, and a number of revised aero packages will be revealed at next month’s Sepang test, this year’s Desmosedici machine will be an evolution of the bike which won the triple crown in 2022.
As Ciabatti explained, “We had a difficult beginning in 2022. Probably some of the developments that were tested in Jerez (at the end of ’21) and then improved in a simulation before the Sepang test didn’t really work in the way we expected. We had to go a bit backwards. We used this hybrid engine for the factory guys, and I think we learned our lesson that cost us time and we lost some opportunities in the first part of the season.
“We’re always looking for improvements, because you never know what the competition will do. But once we reach a level of competitiveness with our bikes, we just look at small things here and there. We don’t want to disrupt the whole balance we have in the bike. If we can get around three, four horsepower more, always welcome. Some other areas we’re working on. The aerodynamics will have some new ideas to be tested in Sepang. But the ’23 bike is basically going to be an evolution of the ’22 bike. If you look at the numbers—12 races won, 16 pole positions out of 20—this means don’t fix something that isn’t broken!”
The Aruba.It Racing Ducati team riders, Alvaro Bautista and Michael Ruben Rinaldi, were on hand, as well. Bautista will also sport the number one on his bike. Within the number “1” will be a smaller script of Bautista’s regular number.
Immediately afterward, Bautista and Rinaldi were out the door and heading to the WorldSBK test in Jerez on January 25-26.CN
