MotoGP, Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati: “Pecco Bagnaia’s performances excited us”

It's no secret, and it's even a challenge launched by the Ducati factory itself: in 2020, the role of teammateAndrea Dovizioso will go to the one who performs best in the Borgo Panigale family. The competition is therefore open between Petrucci, holding the position, Jack Miller and Francis Bagnaia. If the first city marked its territory during the Sepang tests by setting a better time, synonymous with a new track record after three days of testing, Pecco Bagnaia also set a date...

And for good reason: a beginner in the category and riding a GP18, he only fell to Petrux by just 0,063 seconds... “Pecco”, who won eight races of the Moto2 World Championship in 2018 and conquered his title at the end of the Malaysian Grand Prix, left Jack Miller and the vice-world champion Andrea Dovizioso on the GP19 machines behind him.

Better still, he never experienced the pangs of a fall after three days of testing. An already solid record which has not escaped the sporting director of the Reds, Paolo ciabatti : " we appreciate Pecco's attitude. He is very determined, serious » he declares on speedweek. " His performances delighted us. He is a rookie, the Sepang track is much faster than Valencia and Jerez, he rode in 1'58.3 min, which must be described as impressive. Even if we have very fast soft tires ».

He even rejoices: “ we made an excellent choice with his team of engineers. We gave him Christian Gabarrini as crew chief, who not only had success with Casey Stoner, but also looked after young drivers like Jack Miller. He likes her very much. Christian is very experienced and approaches young drivers with the right attitude. He is therefore making the transition from Moto2 to MotoGP as smoothly as possible. Pecco also has in the box electronics engineer Tommaso Pagano, who worked for us in the factory team for Jorge Lorenzo for the last two years ».

A set which, without a doubt, will be talked about in 2019. As a result, it’s Jack Miller which has already fallen behind schedule...

Sepang J3 test: times

1	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati GP19	1:58.239
2	63	Francis Bagnaia	Ducati GP18	1:58.302	0.063	0.063
3	43	Jack Miller	Ducati GP19	1:58.366	0.127	0.064
4	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati GP19	1:58.538	0.299	0.172
5	12	Maverick Vinales	Yamaha M1	1:58.644	0.405	0.106
6	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda RC213V	1:58.780	0.541	0.136
7	41	Aleix Espargarô	Aprilia RS-GP	1:59.022	0.783	0.242
8	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha M1	1:59.141	0.902	0.119
9	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda RC213V	1:59.148	0.909	0.007
10	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha M1	1:59.155	0.916	0.007
11	93	Marc Márquez	Honda RC213V	1:59.170	0.931	0.015
12	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki GSX-RR	1:59.180	0.941	0.010
13	6	Stefan bradl	Honda RC213V	1:59.368	1.129	0.188
14	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati GP18	1:59.485	1.246	0.117
15	36	Joan mir	Suzuki GSX-RR	1:59.486	1.247	0.001
16	20	fabio quartararo	Yamaha M1	1:59.497	1.258	0.011
17	5	Johann zarco	KTM RC16	1:59.640	1.401	0.143
18	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM RC16	1:59.751	1.512	0.111
19	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM RC16	1:59.949	1.710	0.198
20	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati GP18	2:00.378	2.139	0.429
21	55	Hafiz Syahrin	KTM RC16	2:00.766	2.527	0.388
22	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Suzuki GSX-RR	2:00.990	2.751	0.224
23	38	Bradley Smith	Aprilia RS-GP	2:00.995	2.756	0.005
24	66	Mika Kallio	KTM RC16	2:01.020	2.781	0.025
25	T2	Nakasuga/Folger	Yamaha M1	2:01.243	3.004	0.223
26	T1	Jonas Folger	Yamaha M1	2:01.719	3.480	0.476