Little by little, and after the eight falls observed in the Bugatti race, tongues loosen. After Le Mans, we no longer lie to each other and the outcome of this fifth round of the MotoGP championship revealed a clear physiognomy of the forces present. With one key element: Michelin tires. Which many, apart from Yamaha, have a hard time coming to terms with.
We introduced you Honda's delicate situation whose path followed in terms of the furrow Marc Márquez seems to lead the HRC to calvary. Here is now the situation at Ducati. The Reds have something to be sad about. This year was announced as the year of at least the Grand Prix victory and more if desired. But when reading the provisional general classification, we see that the Borgo Panigale factory is barely better than Aprilia.
However, on the track, the stopwatches put the new Desmosedici among the best machines. SO ? Then there were unfavorable racing circumstances. Between fratricidal clashes, falls and mechanical problems, it is nothing to say that the Ducati officials were not varnished. But there is something else. A deeper unease, the frustration of a change of situation which has clipped the wings of the latest D16 with its wings nevertheless deployed.
A situation explained by the sports director Paolo ciabatti on GP One : " the off-season tests had been very encouraging. But we worked on the foundations laid with certain tires which did not materialize ". For what ? He specifies : " Our development work was done with a 36 front tire which worked well on our bike but which we no longer have available. The same thing happened with the rear. We also had a good tire, but we don't have that anymore either."
« Michelins, at the moment, are the critical element " finished Ciabatta. " The main concern is the front tire. Many pilots fall without warning. We need a new balance ". On the motorcycle of course. We will therefore have to review our copy at Ducati. Dovizioso called him to a another approach, more based on regularity than on pure performance: “ performance is still significant » corrects the pit man. But he concedes: “ driving fast is not enough. We have to bring back results ».
