The first three free practice sessions of the first Grand Prix in Qatar annihilated the idea of a season dominated by eight Ducatis racing at the front in close order. Without prejudging a sequel where everything remains to be written, Marc Marquez thus remaining convinced that Ducati is still hiding its game, the facts observed since Friday reveal at the very least Hondas in the game and, above all, transformed Suzukis. The GSX-RRs have become blue arrows that stick to red meteorites and it makes you think about Borgo Panigale. The brand's test driver, Miche Pirro, doesn't hide it...
This start of the Qatar Grand Prix demonstrates that, definitely, we can't really predict anything in MotoGP. On a Losail track where they were swallowed up by the Ducatis in a straight line last year, the Suzukis are now in the lead and are among the best top speeds. If not even the best. Meanwhile, at Ducati, we stay a little behind and share three engine versions. The serenity acquired after the final end of the campaign and during the off-season is already being put to the test...
Public chat Motoracing, Michele Pirro, Ducati’s kingpin for years, sets the tone: “ Suzuki and Honda have raised the bar. We were super competitive at the end of last year, we took a few steps forward, but we see that for the moment this is not enough and something still needs to be done ". Especially since the level of competitiveness has increased further: at the end of FP3, we see that the top ten are concentrated in a window of four tenths. Fabio Quartararo missed direct entry into Q2 by 20 thousandths of a second. But Ducati is called upon to play the leading roles on a track which at least on paper should be favorable… “ Seeing an FP3 like this is as if we were already playing in the World Championship. Let's try to make up for the disadvantage we have and we will be ready for qualifying. Pecco showed his speed is there, so he will be there ».
Ducati: “we certainly didn’t expect the step forward from Suzuki, they took an incredible step”
If until last season the Borgo Panigale missiles seemed to be the most powerful bikes on the straight, during the first seasonal outings they seem to have lost this absolute primacy. A fact that certainly does not compromise the race for the world title, given that in recent years it has not been the machine with the best top speed that has materialized in the world championship. However, there is one fact that marks the clan Ducati... " There is no denying that Honda and Suzuki have improved their performance. It's not that Ducati hasn't improved, but as I always say, our level of improvement always depends on what others are doing. So we know we're still improving a little bit, but we certainly didn't expect the step forward from Suzuki, they've taken an incredible step. We hope not to waste the speed, but to do better at the end of the year with better results. The other years we had speed but it was not enough to win, this year we hope to have a more homogeneous package on everything ».
In fact, Suzuki demonstrates that with only two motorcycles on the track, you can make a difference, while Ducati hit the headlines on this subject with eight machines… “ The company tries to give the best to all drivers, we must try to do our best. It’s not clear that more data can only be a benefit. Everything is always a balance » finishes the Italian.
