Factory, satellite Ducati riders happy with 'mix/new' GP22 engines

The factory Ducati team's last-minute switch to a 'hybrid' engine design, featuring a 'mix' of 2021 and 2022 parts, was one of the main talking points on day one of the Qatar MotoGP season-opener.

The Italian manufacturer and lead rider Francesco Bagnaia felt the subject was being overblown, questioning if the media would show as much interest in the engine spec of their rivals.

"No-one says anything about the other bikes. Every time Ducati is the one that everyone wants to speak about and it's a bit strange," said Bagnaia.

"We are just using the best package possible, like is normal I think. I prefer this engine, with this 'mix'. I like it more than the past [engine] and more than the new [engine].

"So I'm very happy and totally confident with my team that this engine is the best way to work."

Bagnaia was certainly right that a factory choosing to race the most competitive package at its disposal is hardly ground-breaking news.

But the novelty was not so much that Ducati had reverted to an 'evolution' engine design, closer to last year's proven package - although that was still a surprise given the silence on any such option throughout winter testing - but that the three satellite GP22 riders will continue on the 'full' 2022 engine.

If the satellite LCR Honda team homologated 2022 engines that were newer in design than those being used at Repsol Honda, for example, the attention received would likely have been the same. The use of multiple engine specs by Honda during testing was also widely reported.

Might the difference in GP22 spec also now mean set-up and tyre data gathered by the factory Ducati team will be less relevant for the satellite riders, and vice versa?

Either way, Bagnaia made clear that it's not the 2021-spec engine, or indeed the engine used in last November's post-season test at Jerez.

"It's a mix. Not the one in Jerez, not the one in Mandalika, not the one in Malaysia," he said.

"It's not last year's engine, not completely this year's engine. It's a mix and during the test I was riding with it and I was happy with it.

"We decided together to use it. After the test in Mandalika we have seen the potential of this spec. We decided to use it just because it was better.

"I was faster in more than one circuit. The thing is that we want to win and we think that to win we have to use it."

The MotoGP rules require both riders in a factory team to homologate the same engine specification, the design of which - apart from concession manufacturer Aprilia - is then locked in place for the remainder of the season.

"We are on an engine that Ducati have chosen to be the best engine for the season," said Bagnaia's team-mate Jack Miller. "So that's about all I can really say about that. It's neither a 2021 nor a 2022. It's the one they chose for us, the best one that they think will give us the best chance. And I'm quite happy with the outcome.

"I trust 100% their decision. Just got to ride the motorbike that I'm given. I'm not complaining, they're investing millions of dollars into this project and to think that they're not going to give us the best that they can would be silly.

"Everybody's bike is kind of tailor-made to them. That's the beauty of Ducati, we have a lot of different avenues we can go down."

While the Australian picked his words carefully, he seemed to confirm that the 2022 engine had initially been too aggressive. That is thought to have harmed acceleration due to wheelspin. Progress was then made to improve the issue but Ducati also worked concurrently on the change of spec, which was ultimately selected for homologation at the factory team.

Meanwhile, remaining on the full 2022 engine this season will be Pramac riders Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco, plus VR46's Luca Marini. Enea Bastianini and Fabio di Giannantonio at Gresini, plus Marco Bezzecchi at VR46 will race GP21s.

None of the satellite trio expressed any reservations about staying on the 2022 engine and the possibility remains that, if the power delivery can be refined, they could end up with a slight advantage over the factory team.

"It's what we've tried all pre-season, what we've been working on, in Malaysia I was third, in Indonesia I was [challenging] for first and here I am fourth and first Ducati. So for sure it wasn't a bad decision to stay with the new engine," said Martin.

"I think the potential is there but we have a lot of work to do in acceleration. We are working on the electronics and I'm happy and I have the confidence in Ducati to make this engine work. And for sure we need 2-3 races and afterwards we will be stronger than last year's [GP21 engine]."

After confirming he hadn't been given the option to change spec, Martin added: "I don’t know exactly what the factory team has [now] so I cannot tell you the difference.

"I just know what I have and I feel the potential is great. I am the first Ducati, this is the main thing and I hope it's like this all season. So I'll just keep my head down and work."

Miller was two places behind Martin in sixth with Bagnaia tenth, meaning all three are on target for direct access to Saturday's Qualifying 2 pole position shootout.

But the other satellite GP22s had a tougher time in Friday practice, with Zarco 18th and Marini 23rd.

"I want to keep the '22 engine," Zarco said. "I don’t know really what they did in the factory team, what the riders wanted, because I was really focussed on what I had to do [this winter].

"So I'm working with the '22 engine and the problems I had today are not coming from the engine."

"I have the latest spec of the Ducati and I'm quite satisfied with that," Marini said. "We just need to work a bit and put everything at 100%, like always when everything is new. But after some races it will be at the top for sure."

Although he also didn't try the different factory spec, Marini highlighted that the 2022 engine is leaps and bounds better than the 2019 he raced in his rookie season.

"In my opinion [the 2022 engine] is great. I just have memories from last year when I was struggling a lot. The feeling then was much worse. For me everything is beautiful [now]."

Ducati using its satellite teams to refine and develop its newest technology would follow the same path as things like holeshot and ride-height devices. The difference in this case is that, should an advantage be found with the new engine, the factory team will have to wait until next season to use it.

Suzuki's Alex Rins caused a surprise by leading the Friday top speed charts with a one-off best of 355.2km/h. Team-mate Joan Mir proved it was no fluke by being fastest for average top speed (best five speeds) at 354.0km/h.

Bastianini was just 0.5km/h slower than Mir's average on the Ducati GP21, followed by Rins (352.6) and the Aprilia of Maverick Vinales (352.3). Zarco was the best GP22 on 352.2, with Miller's average 350.6 and Bagnaia's 347.7, putting him just 15th out of the 24 riders.