VR46: “Real” Ducati GP25 at Sepang, “Gigi don’t say nothing!”
“We didn’t try the real 2025 bike”
While MotoGP manufacturers debuted ‘2025’ machines during last November’s Barcelona test, they were still very much in prototype form.
But the upcoming Sepang tests, just a month before the Buriram season opener, are where the ‘real’ 2025 machines will be seen - at least in the case of defending champion Ducati.
That’s according to Alessio ‘Uccio’ Salucci, whose VR46 team receives official Ducati status this year and will benefit from a factory-spec Desmosedici GP25 for Fabio di Giannantonio.
Diggia missed the Barcelona test due to shoulder surgery and was replaced by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro. But as Uccio made clear, the ‘GP25’ seen on track last year was a long way from the final version.
“Sincerely, about the bike of 2025, we don’t know [the differences yet],” Salucci said.
“Diggia was injured so we tried the bike in Barcelona with Pirro. But we didn’t try the real 2025 bike. We tried some parts from 2024, some parts from 2025.
“The real bike will arrive in Sepang on February 5th.
“So for us, it’s difficult to understand now the difference between the ‘24 and ’25 – also because Mr Gigi Dall’Igna don’t say nothing about the 2025 bike!
“When we arrive in Sepang, me and Pablo [Nieto, team manager] will have a meeting with him and it will be the first time that we understand the differences.”
Salucci, whose team struggled on GP23s last year after winning races in 2022, added:
“For sure [the 25] will be better, but I think more-or-less the bike will not change a lot like the 24.
“But the problem about the 23 bike was not that [Ducati] changed a lot the ’24 bike, it was that the tyres changed a lot.
“Michelin arrived with a new tyre construction last year, and this rear tyre had more support, more grip.
“And our [23] bike didn’t turn, because the rear part of the bike pushed [the front] a lot.
“So I don’t know the difference from 24 to 25 yet, but I think they will be very similar.
“Also, because in ‘27 the rules change in MotoGP and now all the factories don’t push and [don't want to] invest a lot, a lot, a lot. Because already they are starting to think about ‘27.”
Engine design for the current 1000cc machines will be frozen from the Thai season opener until the end of 2026, to allow manufacturers to divert resources towards the next generation 850cc bikes.
A GP24 was fastest at the Barcelona test in the hands of Gresini’s Alex Marquez with factory Ducati Lenovo riders Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez third and fourth on the GP25.
VR46 team manager Pablo Nieto echoed Salucci’s comments, adding that, with di Giannantonio’s team-mate Franco Morbidelli on a GP24 this year, 'we can almost say' we have two factory bikes.
“We start from zero [with di Giannantonio and the GP25] because as Uccio said in Barcelona we could not test with him," Nieto said.
"And it’s also true also that the bike we tested with Pirro wasn’t the [real 25] bike that we will test next week in Malaysia.
“From the ‘24 to ‘25 bike, we don’t know yet, but it looks like the gap won’t be so big. This is important for us because we can almost say we have two factory bikes.”
The VR46 riders will be training on Superbikes at Mandalika before heading to the official Sepang test, which takes place from February 5-7.
A shakedown test for rookies, test riders and concession manufacturers starts on January 31st.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
