Bagnaia: “Aggressive” acceleration | Bastianini: “I’ve worked a lot in the box”
Defending MotoGP champion Bagnaia was fifth-fastest on the first day of the preseason Sepang test, while new factory Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini was third-quickest.
Last year, Bagnaia and his bike started slowly before picking up performance in the latter stages of the season en route to claiming the title - this year, he believes Ducati are already giving themselves a better chance of dominating from the first round in Portimao.
“I was focused on the new engine and the fairing today, because these are the biggest things to try,” Bagnaia said. “I am happy with the work done.
“This morning I did laps with the new bike. This afternoon I was focused, with used tyres, to using old-new, old-new, old-new. To understand the level of the new one. Because the old one is a bike from 2020.
“The new one has great things but the acceleration is a bit aggressive. The old one was so, so smooth. So we are focused on understanding what I have to do. My approach today was just to understand, to change myself on the bike.
“The fairing was the same thing. It is totally different, a different effect on the ground, so you have to do a different thing when riding.
“It was better in the braking, this is already a good thing for Ducati. In the long corners, I have to understand. It is good to test here because there are a lot of long corners. There is great potential.
“There are more positives than negatives. We have two more days to understand everything. Compared to last year we can be happy with the first day.
“I think, in this moment, we have started so much better. Looking at the lap times? They are a lot better.
“But we have to work a lot. I am happy but I don’t want to be too positive.”
Bagnaia revelled in displaying his new plate: “I was looking forwards to riding with #1, to seeing myself in pictures with it! It has been a long time since I had #1. I am looking forwards to seeing videos and images of myself with the #1! It is wonderful, I love it.”
Bastianini is the newcomer in the factory Ducati team having earned a promotion from Gresini Racing. Last year, only Bagnaia won more races than Bastianini. In 2023 Bastianini will have his own championship ambitions but has already admitted the increased responsibility of a factory seat.
“This is the first time I have worked a lot in the box,” he said. “And the first impact was good.
“Today, I had the same set-up as in Valencia. The same spec. But we have to try the new bike. Tomorrow I will try more. Today I rode the 2022 bikes more.
“It is most important to be prepared for the race.
“The potential of the new bike is good so I am confident.
“It is better. For me, it has a little bit more power. The bike is very similar to the old one, but with more potential.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
