The opening weekend in Qatar kicked off with confusion surrounding the Ducati Lenovo MotoGP engine allocation.
Rumours suggested Pecco Bagnaia had been unhappy with the 2022-spec rolled out at the Sepang and Mandalika tests forcing the Bologna factory to revisit its plans and offer an intermediate option mixing 2021 and ’22 strong points for the Lenovo duo. The Italian was less forthcoming when questioned on the origins of the compromise.
“Is not true that we are not using the ’22,” Bagnaia said on Friday evening from Doha. “We are just using the best package possible we decided after the test in Mandalika. We decided to use the best package for us and is normal I think. I prefer this engine, in this mix and I like it more than the past and more than the new. So I'm very happy and I'm totally confident with my team that this engine is the best way to work.
“Is a mix,” he explained further. “Is not the one [tested] in Jerez, not the one in Mandalika and not the one in Malaysia, is a mix of last year engine and this new year engine. We decided together to use it after the test in Mandalika. We have seen the potential of this spec and we decided to use it just because it was better.
“We want to win and we think that to win we had to use it.”
“We are on an engine that Ducati has chosen to be the best engine for the season,” Jack Miller confirmed, after completing the day in the top six. “So that's about all I can really say about that. It's not either a 2021 or 2022, it's the one they chose for us, the best one that they think will give us the best chance and yeah, I'm quite happy with the outcome.
“They want the best for us,” the Australian continued on the Italian factory’s progression. “They want us to have the best chance so I trust 100 per cent their decision, I’m just gonna ride the motorbike that I'm given.
“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 be would be silly. So I trust 100 per cent everyone's decision and it feels good today. We're pretty close to my best lap time with just a little over 45 minutes on the track so I can't complain too much.”
With eight Ducati riders on the grid for 2022, and five initially expected to be on the 2022-spec Desmosedici it now seems there is a further split, with Pramac’s Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco joining VR46’s Luca Marini on the original ’22 engine with Miller and Bagnaia running the hybrid.
“Doesn't mean they have the same everything,” Miller responded when questioned on the differing power options available. “Everybody's bike is kind of tailor made, that’s the beauty of Ducati. We have a lot of different avenues you can go down but the idea is you've got factory support. You've get updated parts, they're developing your bike, that’s the whole bonus of that.
“It was something we worked on from Jerez onwards at the end of last year,” he concluded on the original 2022 upgrade. “Is something that we got to a reasonable stage and then Ducati has been able to make some changes, adapt and now we're on a different spec. So I mean, that's about all I can say about that.”
While Bagnaia failed to set the standings alight on the opening day of the new season, as he had at the tail end of 2021, the Italian is confident his tenth place 1'53.971 time - half a second adrift of Suzuki’s Alex Rins - after Friday’s two free practices in not indicative of his potential.
“I'm not happy about today but I was not at 100 per cent comfortable riding,” Bagnaia admitted.
"When you do testing, trying a lot of things - we decided to do this type of work just to have a clear decision about the bike to use - we have left something behind and today we were concentrating on that.
“I'm not so happy about the front feeling today. Maybe the conditions were not the best, but I'm quite confident that tomorrow, we already know why I was struggling a bit on the entry so we will work on it and we already have a clear idea on what to do.”
