[Moto] Bagnaia: "They bring us top speed, but the one that wins is the slowest bike"

[#Wittels-]

Pecco Bagnaia tested a new fairing in the Barcelona test "that improved the 'top speed' of the Ducati", but recorded that "the one that wins is the slowest bike".

This weekend the German Grand Prix is held, the tenth stop on the 2022 MotoGP calendar, or what is the same, we reach the halfway point of the season. Ducati will reach half of the races of the course without having introduced the aerodynamic evolution to which all riders are entitled, by regulation, during the year. Since the pre-season, the riders who, on paper, use the 2022 prototype have not changed their fairing.

At the Barcelona test, held in Montmeló on the Monday after the grand prix, Jack Miller, Enea Bastianini and Pecco himself will be able to test the evolution of the 2022 fairing, which was also used by Luca Marini, although only a few turns.

"I tried several things and the most important thing was the fairing," Pecco explained at the end of the test. "It worked quite well, I'm happy with it, but it was just to test it. I don't know if we'll use it this year," the leader of the Borgo Panigale project blurted out like a jug of cold water.

Pecco Bagnaia already surprised in the preseason by ruling out the latest evolution of Ducati's 2022 engine, asking to face the course (the propellers are sealed and cannot be changed) with a hybrid of the 2021 engine, the one that the factory took to the Jerez de November 2021.

Now the boy from Turin has also closed the door to aerodynamic evolution and doubts that the new fairing is really the solution they need.

"It can help maneuverability, but it also gives us more top speed. It can help, but this year I prefer more handling and less top speed," he says. "That's the most important thing, Yamaha is the perfect example of that."

Pecco is clear about the rider he has to beat if he wants to be world champion: Fabio Quartararo.

In the race of the Grand Prix of Catalonia, Miller set the maximum speed in the race with the Ducati (348.3 km/h), while among the riders who finished the test, the slowest bike was that of Quartararo, the winner , with a top speed of 337.5 km/h).

"The handling [of the Yamaha] is better at the moment. We can clearly see that top speed is not everything. This year we have improved this a lot, but we still have to work on the grip in lean, like the Yamaha. We are studying that," he valued.

 

The Italian is now waiting for Ducati to evolve this new fairing before making it final and homologating it for use in racing.

"If it arrives, it will surely help us in the 'top speed', but as we have seen, the bike that is winning does not have top speed. I have improved a lot with a fairing (the current one) that does not give me as much speed, but it helps in handling. And I would like to continue like this", in reference to the bike's agility in the corners.

While Pecco does not see the need to use the new fairing, Miller assured that he does not care what they mount on him, not in vain at the end of the season he will go to another factory. However, who did see the new piece very positively was Enea Bastianini. The one from Gresini has a motorcycle and a 2021 aerodynamic package, and after testing the first 2022 aerodynamic package at the Jerez test (early May), he preferred to wait for the second (the one in Barcelona) before making a decision, assuring that he expected be able to use it after the summer.

For Pecco, the fact that other drivers homologate it does not change his plans.

"I don't know how it works, it's not me who should decide who can or cannot homologate it, it's a decision that Ducati must make," the #63 settled.

 

Link: https://es.motorsport.com/motogp/news/bagnaia-ducati-velocidad-punta-gana-moto-lenta/10321762/