If there’s one manufacturer who can breathe a little easier than everyone else into the start of MotoGP pre-season testing next week, it’s reigning Constructors’ Champion Ducati.
With Ducati already having a really excellent bike in their garages, Ducati needs the slightest improvement over the five days at the Sepang and Mandalika circuit – but that could mean we’re going to see some weird and wonderful things.
In years past, since technical guru Gigi Dall’Igna joined from Aprilia in 2014, Ducati’s technical strategy has been simple: stop trying to hold back the raw power his bike has become known for and instead embrace it, even if that means relying on technical tricks and techniques that the rest of the grid hadn’t even thought of.
That opened the door to all sorts of innovations, most notably the ever-complicated aerodynamics that sometimes made the Desmosedici look more like a WW1 fighter plane than the smooth and streamlined 500cc two-strokes of old.
In addition, of course, Ducati has also experimented with devices to adjust rear ride height on the fly and compress the suspension for launch, tried new ways of mounting components, and installed a yet-to-be-explained mass damping device that sits in the oversized rear subframe .
The end result of all this is a bike that is arguably the best on the grid and has dominated the second half of the 2021 season. Race winners in the hands of Pecco Bagnaia, Jack Miller and Jorge Martin (with the rookie taking Ducatis (first satellite win)), just one of six riders – Luca Marini, a front row starter – failed to finish on the podium last year .
And the worrying news for Ducati’s rivals is that it sounds like the bike’s 2022 specification will be just as quick, with minimal updates from last year through to this year. The new machine, which was tested by the factory riders back in late 2021 at Jerez, Bagnaia says is another step forward at the time and another step towards a more refined and rider-friendly package.
“I’m satisfied,” said the Italian after completing the tests. “We still have a lot to do but I feel great and Ducati has already developed a perfect bike. The good thing is that on a medium tire and in the wind I did a faster lap time than qualifying which is incredible. We are definitely working in a good direction.”
In fact, the team was so strong by the end of the season that even newly-crowned champion Fabio Quartararto admitted he was already worried about defending the title given the strength of the red machines on the 2022 grid, as their presence stretches from six to eight with the Gresini team.
“They’ve made a huge step so I’m more worried about next year,” Quartararo admitted, “but that’s something I’m too busy thinking about right now. I have to leave it to Yamaha, they know what to do to improve for next year.”
So if the bike is in such good shape, what does that mean for the upcoming tests? Well, if things are sorted out the way it sounds then we could look forward to more interesting updates from the Bologna factory.
For example, expect a further evolution of the Desmosedici’s state-of-the-art aerodynamics as more and more money is pumped into this particular bottomless pit.
But in reality, it’s likely that the bulk of the work will be done under the bike’s skin, regardless of what’s being researched for potential future use.
Having finally built a bike capable of contending for the title, the name of the game should now be perfection, not left field. Get this right, and 2022 could finally be the year someone else adds to Casey Stoner’s record as Ducati’s sole title winner.