The return of MotoGP scheduled for Sepang for the first run of the 2023 vintage is approaching and the challenge will be to see if anyone among the four competing manufacturers is capable of contesting the supremacy displayed by the fifth, which is Ducati. Because the Borgo Panigale brand did badly in 2022. Judge for yourself: in the final rider rankings, three Ducati riders finished in the top five, led by Francesco Bagnaia as World Champion. There are even five Ducati riders in the top 10 of the rider standings. And in addition to the riders' title, Ducati also won the world championship titles in the constructors' classification and in the teams' classification during the 2022 season. A record that did not escape Giacomo Agostini who will follow the tests in Malaysia with the hope of seeing a reaction from the competition.
Giacomo Agostini, the man with fifteen world titles, it should be remembered, like many others, is impatiently awaiting this 2023 season. With its new Grand Prix format and a warlike phraseology practiced both on the side of Honda with Marc Marquez that of Yamaha with Lin Jarvis, hostilities promise to be tough. The living motorcycle legend assesses the situation thus: “ on paper, Ducati has the advantage, it is undoubtedly the bike to beat » he notes on La Gazzetta dello Sport, in comments taken up by motorcyclesports.
He adds : " but we will see if the other large factories are able to react during the next tests and if they finally realize that the time has come to raise the level against this Ducati ". And he reveals his nightmare: “ see on Sunday that the Ducati dominate while the others finish tenth ».
« Why should Ducati be criticized for giving bikes to teams who requested them?«
A mention which brings back to the table the subject of the eight motorcycles lined up on the starting grid. A situation that Davide Tardozzi, the team manager of the factory team Ducati, however, has already explained in a podcast conversation with 'MotoGP.com': « first of all, I wonder why other manufacturers don't use more motorcycles? We have eight Ducati motorcycles on the field because the other manufacturers just don't want to deliver more bikes to the teams. It's not like at Ducati we insist on eight bikes. It's just that other manufacturers no longer offer motorcycles »Says Tardozzi who asks: “ why should Ducati be criticized for giving motorcycles to teams who requested them? ».
« But of course », admits the team manager of Ducati, who are " there is also a strategy behind the eight motorcycles. Because this is how Ducati helps satellite teams recruit fast young riders. This is a strategy that we defined two years ago. And the result is that we now have a fast motorcycle and fast riders » concludes Davide Tardozzi.
