Ducati did it again. This Friday, during the FP2 of the British Grand Prix, the Desmosedici of Jorge Martín (Pramac) and Enea Bastianini (Gresini) appeared with a revolutionary new rear tail, from which four prominent wings emerged reminiscent of a crest, or the back of a dinosaur
The curious thing about the case is that they were the only two pilots of the eight of the brand that compete in the premier class, who tried such a setup, nor the officials, Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller, had the opportunity to do so. In addition, Martin’s bike and Bastianini’s are different, the Spaniard’s is the 2022 with the latest specifications and the Italian’s is the 2021 bike.
Martín did not end up happy with the test and assured that he will not ride them again, or at least that is what he assured this Friday afternoon, at the end of the day.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Bastianini, on the other hand, gives more credit to the novelty introduced by Ducati and hopes to do a retest this Saturday, although initially he does not rule out mounting the part even in qualifying.
“The feeling is good at the moment,” said the Italian, of the new wings.
“Tomorrow we have to try to find out if it’s better or not, because I had to go back to normal settings, and although we try again later because it’s important to understand if it’s better or not, I need to try it again to get more information.”
“When I started I felt a difference in the bike, it was harder for me to understand what was changing, although in the end I got an idea, but I understand that tomorrow morning we will be able to test it again and we will understand it better”.
Although the Italian did not clearly opt for one side or the other, he did leave the door open for the invention.
“My first impression is that it is better when braking, it is more stable and also for the speed it is not bad. I think that tomorrow it can help us in qualifying”, he pointed out.
While Martín has had to carry, along with Johann Zarco, the weight of testing new parts during the first half of the season at Ducati, Bastianini has not touched the 2021 winning bike since arriving at Gresini. Now the boy from Rimini is delighted to receive news to keep his bike competitive.
“Ducati told me that in this part it would help me. I think that braking is the strongest point of these wings”, he said in reference to the stability when stopping the bike.
About the day in general, Enea felt satisfied to be a restart after the holidays.
“I am happy with this first day of practice, let’s say that after such a long break, restarting on a track with these complex characteristics is never easy with MotoGP. We have taken the first session calmly to gain sensations and, in the second, we have progressively tightened up”, explained Bastianini as a summary of a first day in which he finished eighth on the time sheet.
