The Ducati factory team and Francesca Bagnaia have fallen short of expectations so far, but the Italian hopes the season and with it his form will normalise
For Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia, the start to the 2022 MotoGP season did not go as planned. After a crash in Qatar and a meagre point in the rain in Indonesia, the Italian at least managed his first top five finish of the year at the Argentine Grand Prix despite a poor starting position.
In the World Championship he is only 14th after three races and has 33 points on the current overall leader Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia). But with 18 races to go, anything is still possible, or what does Bagnaia himself think about his title chances?
“I hope so,” says the Ducati hopeful. “It’s clear that many riders are fast and the races have been a bit strange. Qatar was still the most normal. But Mandalika was completely new. We had different tyres than in the test and it was a rain race. “
Bagnaia hopes for normal weekend in Austin
“We also didn’t race on the track in Argentina for two years. And compared to 2019, it was different tyres. There were only three sessions to improve the bike – so another difficult weekend. I hope we will have a normal weekend in America,” Bagnaia looks ahead.
“I think at the moment all the riders need a bit more time to deal with things. As soon as there is a bit more calm, we will see more consistency from the riders – or from me? I don’t know, but that’s how I see it.”
Especially after Qatar, Bagnaia had complained that he had to concentrate too much on testing new parts and modifications to the bike instead of the actual race weekend. Given that statement, would he prefer more testing?
Ducati rider wants more testing days again
“I would prefer to have more tests like in the past – one day in Valencia, two days in Jerez and then six or nine test days in February or March,” explains the Italian. “The only problem is that it will be difficult to have many test days when more races come into the calendar.”
“But of course it’s better to have more test days to be ready or to have the necessary rest to finish your work,” said Bagnaia. There have been three official tests this winter: Jerez in November, Sepang in February and Mandalika – a completely new track that had to be ridden “clean” first.