Draeno Posted April 8, 2023 Posted April 8, 2023 Francesco Bagnaia, the first Italian MotoGP champion since Valentino Rossi was last in 2009, makes his debut in the defense of the title as the flagship of Ducati, a factory that has not won the drivers' championship since 2007, with Casey Stoner, and which has become the great benchmark in the premier class on its own merits. In 2022 it was already intuited that we could be facing a Ducati Cup and at times it was, although nobody could imagine after the race in Germany that Pecco would end up taking the title. That crash of his at Sachsenring meant his fourth zero of the course and left him sixth, 91 points behind the lead held by Quartararo, but he won, because he knew how to overcome it and because he had the best bike on the grid, a Desmosedici that for 2023 is even better than the previous version, as the new champion has assured, because he sees it as more made for him. The Ducati is the motorcycle that runs the fastest and best accelerates, the one that brakes the best and the one that has always had the best aerodynamic package, to the point of driving a competition crazy that has had no choice but to copy its wings and so on. The other motorcycles only argue with him about being the best in cornering, something in which he is not a disaster either. And best of all, it has eight motorcycles on the track, because to the two official riders, Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, we must add the names of the satellites Jorge Martín, Johann Zarco, Marco Bezzecchi, Lucha Marini, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Álex Márquez, a new addition this year who is delighted to have left his time as a Honda rider behind. As can be seen, a list of important pilots with the most powerful weapon and who are willing to work for the benefit of their factory, as was seen last year when Zarco sacrificed the possibility of getting on the podium in Thailand to cover the backs of a Bagnaia that the title was being played. The one that was put together in France because good old Johann carried out factory orders instead of fighting for his interests and, incidentally, lending a hand to his compatriot Quartararo, who was the one who was fighting with Pecco for the crown. In addition to all this theory, the preseason has made it clear that Ducatis are the bikes to beat, with Marini leading the tests in Valencia and Sepang, a rider who has yet to climb to the MotoGP podium, and with Bagnaia smashing the Portimao record. in the last preseason test. And with better rhythm than anyone... Obviously, the others will also have something to say, because things always happen in MotoGP and even more could happen this year, when the races are incorporated into the sprint every GP Saturday. They will be tests with half the number of laps than the conventional race on Sundays and with half the points at stake. Undoubtedly, an extra incentive for the spectator that becomes a double-edged sword for the pilots, because there is a lot to gain now on Saturdays, but also a lot to lose, because surely there will be more than one casualty on Sunday due to a fall in the sprint race With 42 races to go, regularity gains weight, but the possibility of wild cards in the form of zeroes per season also doubles. Returning to the grid, those who have also done their homework well in winter are those of Aprilia and the pair formed by Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales are now joined by Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández from the satellite team. All four have given off good vibes in winter and it looks like the RS-GP23 is even better than last year's, which was already good. Noale's house continues to grow and at Honda, on the other hand, it seems that they don't give one. His preseason has been embarrassing at times, with Marc Márquez having many problems to be in the top ten because of an RC213V that doesn't quite go as well as he does. His new teammate, Joan Mir, finished the Portimao test 13th just ahead of him, with 16 thousandths of a difference between the two and eight tenths off the lead. The satellites Álex Rins and Takaaki Nakagami did not dazzle either and the feeling is that Honda arrives with a motorcycle that is far from the Ducati. It was very striking that Mir said that there had been no revolution from the November test in Valencia to that of Portimao, held two weeks before the World Cup kick-off. What the hell are they doing at Honda? They have the best driver in the category, but without tools he can't save their furniture every day. Marc has done enough to overcome his fourth operation on his right arm and finally leave behind an injury that has been an ordeal for two years. It is time for the golden wing to catch up and it is a step to have turned to Kalex to make them a proper chassis given their inefficiency. Of course, they will have to wait until the Jerez test, in May, to try to find the definitive bike, and that is four appointments after the start of the season... As for Yamaha, they have finally given Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli an engine that runs a bit more, although so far only the former has been able to take advantage of it. The 2021 champion finished the test at the Algarve circuit third and was finally able to get the most out of his M1 with a new tire, something they suffered for most of the winter. And from KTM to say that much more was expected. Having Dani Pedrosa still as a test driver, without a doubt the best of all the test drivers, by record, but above all by analytical and development capacity, generated expectations for the preseason that have not been met. Brad Binder's ninth-place finish at Portimao allowed him to salvage some of the furniture at the Austrian factory, but his new acquisition Jack Miller is a far cry from the positions he used to occupy with Ducati. His satellite team wears the GASGAS colors this year, but the RC16 will also be driven by Pol Espargaró, who is returning home, and Augusto Fernández, who is making his debut in the category, so he is not required to start, but he still only has one year to earn a permanent place on the grid, because Pedro Acosta has already been pushing from Moto2 for a long time… https://as.com/motor/2023/03/24/reportajes/1679647168_991450.html
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