Bagnaia, Miller homologate 'hybrid' 2021-2022 Ducati engines

Update: Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi has told Simon Crafar: "Pecco didn't say 'I want the 2021 engine and not the 2022'. This is bullshit. We just gave him a different [2022] spec, towards the style of Pecco and Jack. The other [GP22 riders] like the other spec. And that's what happened."

Ducati's factory MotoGP riders Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller will compete in the 2022 season using a 'hybrid' version of the GP21 and GP22 engines.

The eve of this weekend's Qatar season-opener marked the deadline for MotoGP teams to register (homologate) their engine specification to be used throughout the 2022 campaign.

The only exception is Aprilia which, due to technical concessions, is allowed to change engine design during the season.

The novelty for 2022 is that the factory Ducati team will not be running all of the very latest engine parts, but an 'evolution' made up of a 'mix' of last year's engine and some updated components.

There was little between the GP22 and GP21 engines in terms of top speed during pre-season testing, with Johann Zarco (GP22) and Enea Bastianini (GP21) setting exactly the same average top speed at Mandalika, as seven Ducatis filled the top seven places.

But all the GP22 riders spoke of the latest engine needing further refinement, targeting areas such as acceleration and engine braking for improvement.

With virtually nothing to separate the engines on top speed, title runner-up Bagnaia and double race winner Miller have opted for a combination of the more refined 2021 engine with some updated 2022 parts.

While the MotoGP rules specify that both riders in a factory team must have the same engine spec, the GP22 riders at satellite teams - Zarco and Jorge Martin at Pramac, plus Luca Marini at VR46 - are free to make their own engine choices and will stay on the 'full' 2022 engine. As well as Bastianini, rookies Fabio di Giannantonio (Gresini) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) will race the GP21.

If Ducati can solve the 2022 engine character issues that dissuaded Bagnaia and Miller, the satellite GP22 riders could potentially find themselves with a performance advantage over the factory team.

The three different Ducati engines (GP21, GP22 and GP22 hybrid) will go head-to-head in opening MotoGP practice in Qatar later this afternoon.