The spotlight was undoubtedly this Tuesday in the dressing room of the official team of Ducati. Although not so much in Pecco Bagnaiabut in Marc Marquezwho was able to make his official debut during the Barcelona tests as a new member of the team led by Davide Tardozzisubstitute Enea Bastianini.
But, in a day with different plans for both, the one who won the first round in terms of time was the Italian. With a time of 1:39.398, Bagnaia finished in third position, just ahead of #93who during his last “attack against the clock” finished fourth with a time of 1:39.454, 56 thousandths behind.
The two pilots had three motorcycles: a GP23, a GP24 and a GP25 in the case of Márquez, and a GP24 (the machine with the red “livery”), a GP24.5 and the GP25 (both which were painted white) in the case of Turin. #63 was more interested in testing the new Borgo Panigale prototype, the latest version, and was satisfied with its characteristics, although in some cases he prefers what the Desmosedici offers him with which he finished second in the general classification.
“It was a productive day, I liked what we tried“, Bagnaia began saying on DAZN. “The team and engineers will surely have a lot of work to do this winter, because The new bike has potential. Coming out with a new bike and already being at this level is good. I think this is the first year the engine has worked like this, so well, but we still need something more. The GP25, when braking, is a little worse than the GP24which I really appreciated when entering a corner. “But it is more stable in fast and long turns.”
“We’ve done almost 60 laps and we still need time to figure things out. This circuit is a bit special, but otherwise I’m happy“, he continued, before explaining the differences between the available motorcycles: “The 24.5 only had the new engine, and the other [GP25] It was completely new. It was about comparing the chassis and engine between the old and the new. But Today I wouldn’t choose any of them, we already knew that before the test. We have done the whole season with the GP24, and it is always very difficult for the new bike to perform better than the old one.. “What we did was collect data.”
What the Piedmontese really appreciated was that he and his new teammate agreed on the feel of the pieces: “The luck is that I have Márquez on the other side of the surface, who had very similar sensations to mine, and that is very positive to straighten out the work a little.. “It helps a lot.”
Of course, he did not compare his data with those of Márquez: “Nor I never look at the data between drivers during testing, because we don’t know the tires or anything. What was important was that the same things tested gave the same “feel”, of going in the same direction, although he drove in a slightly different way than me, the role of the set-up seemed the same one, saying the same comments. “
Finally, Bagnaia made a nice gesture at the end of the test, being applauded by the fans at the stadium. Barcelona-Catalonia Circuit. Pecco waved to him from the garage. This is how he explained the moment, giving another touch to the new MotoGP radio system: “I didn’t notice it because I had the sockets and the radio system. I tried it and it seemed like it wasn’t ready. But it was nice that people were so affectionate with me. We gave fans something incredible this year“, he concluded.
