Sepang.- The Italian rider was the one who finished the 2021 season in the best shape and is determined to be one of the clear contenders for the title in the course that starts in a month in Qatar.
On Saturday, on the first day of testing in Sepang, the Italian could only be 19th, more than 1.6 seconds behind the fastest, but this Sunday the Desmosedici GP22 roared on the Malaysian asphalt to stop the time at 1.58.265, the sixth fastest chrono 0.134 from the reference that Enea Bastianini set with a Desmosedici GP21.
“We have taken a huge step forward. When I tried the fastest lap I didn’t do anything special. If the race were today, I think we would be ready to fight to win,” the Italian driver said with confidence.
However, there is a month to go until the Losail race, and before that Ducati will have a new three-day test in Indonesia to fine-tune the machine even more.
“If we continue along this line in Mandalika, in Qatar we will be ready to fight to win. I hope that they will bring us something else in Indonesia,” he asked.
The improvement of the GP22 was not limited to the role of Pecco, theoretical spearhead of the Borgo Panigale project, since Jorge Martín was equally fast on the same bike, lapping in 1.58.243, the third fastest time of the day.
“The biggest step forward has been in acceleration. I didn’t expect the improvement to be that big,” Pecco said.
“With this bike we have to improve the delivery of power a bit, we have acceleration with electronics,” he added.
Bagnaia, who is waiting to renew his contract with Ducati, which ends at the end of the year, was very confident in the work of the factory and, particularly, that of his team in the box.
“When you have a team like mine around you, it gives you a lot of confidence,” concluded the Turin player.
