Paolo Ciabatti is a Ducati sporting director who is delighted to have one more of his riders playing in the world race, with four Grands Prix remaining at the end of this MotoGP season. In this case it is Pecco Bagnaia. However, listening to it, we realize that this reward would be the icing on a cake already ready to serve to the leaders of Borgo Panigale, who will more surely delight in its flavor distilled by the crowns taken from the builders and among the teams. That being said, there are four races left and in racing, as the Italian says, anything can happen…
48 points, this is the distance that separates the official Ducati Pecco Bagnaia of his counterpart from Yamaha Fabio Quartararo leader of championnat pilots. The Italian, on his compatriot's bike, has four races to close the gap. Which is not much, especially against an opponent who alone has as many podiums, or nine, as the two representatives of the Borgo Panigale factory combined. Not to mention the fact that he appeared on the first row of the starting grid 13 times, on 14 possible occasions…
Then, the Frenchman's missteps are rare and also exceptionally of his own making. SO ? SO Paolo Ciabatti thus evaluates the opportunities for his colors, against those of the one who is the only one to put the Yamaha at this level of competitiveness: “ we are where we are. We try to be in front, to win races. It's the only thing we can do “, declared the sporting director of Ducati on speedweek. " Then we'll see what happens. Fabio has a comfortable lead of 48 points with four races still to go. But anything can happen in racing. We must keep trying. We have proven that we can now be competitive on any track ».
« We now look forward to the Austin Grand Prix », added the Italian. “ Usually, the Circuit of the Americas is the realm of Señor Marquez. He has always won there since 2013, with the exception of 2019. But Aragon was also Marc's home track, and we beat him there two weeks ago. We have a clear concept, we want to win and put Fabio under pressure. However, winning the title will be difficult. But it is not impossible ».
Certainly, but we still seem to be resigned in view of what follows, which already looks very much like an assessment: “ at Ducati we struggled at the second Austrian Grand Prix, then at Silverstone » specifies thus Paolo Ciabatti. " We could have done a lot better there, but we had no grip on the rear wheel with the soft tires. There is no point in complaining about it and regretting something. We look to the future and appreciate what we can accomplish now ". But the Italian admits: “ if we get a world drivers championship it will be a big surprise ».
He then pulls himself together: “ on the other hand, we are leading in the constructors' championship, which is also very important. We are also close to the World Team Cup. The Drivers' Championship is of course the most important championship. But the constructors' world championship is also very important ».
Paolo ciabatti : “Fabio Quartararo has been incredibly strong all season”
The happiness of Ducati is to finally have a versatile motorcycle. But he also paradoxically caused his misfortune. So, there was first Johann zarco who started the season extremely well with two second places, then Jack Miller attracted attention with two victories at Le Mans and Jerez, while bagnaia is now the great hope. To these, we must add George Martin with his two pole positions and three podiums as a rookie, including a victory at Spielberg-1 on August 8. bastianini also got on his podium in Misano. Alone Marini does not succeed with the Desmosedici…
At Yamaha, on the other hand, all other riders apart from Quarterly are far from the mark. And Ducati's best current chance is bagnaia struggled a bit with the first half of the season, leading to a significant points deficit.
« Pecco made a braking error in the second race in Doha, otherwise he could have fought for the podium there ", remember Ciabatta. " He took a fantastic pole position at Portimão, but the time was canceled due to a yellow flag that no one saw. Nevertheless, Pecco came second. If he could have started from pole position, the race could have been a different story. Then came Mugello. Pecco was leading there, but he was in shock after the tragic incident with Jason Dupasquier and lost control of the bike. There too, a podium was lost, like at Spielberg-2 and Silverstone. We could therefore be closer to Fabio ».
He finishes : " but I won't hide the fact that Fabio has been incredibly strong all season. He deserves the current championship lead. I don't remember him ever being competitive on any track. Unless it rains, this is not his favorite terrain. But he's had a fantastic season so far ". A season where there are four races remaining, including this weekend at Austin.
