MotoGP, Test Sepang J3, Ducati domine mais Davide Tardozzi est insatiable : “on est encore loin, Portimao sera décisif”

With seven machines in the top 10, including two in the lead, with a GP23 much better born than the GP22 which had given its designers a hard time at this same time last year, Ducati would have every legitimacy to strut in the pit lane on the Sepang track after three days of testing. The competition is almost already knocked out standing, with the exception of the compatriot Aprilia who resists. But that's not the case. For the men of Borgo Panigale to keep their feet on the ground, we must count on Davide Tardozzi who proclaims to anyone who will listen that nothing is perfect at Ducati. But what about the others?

Listen to the team manager of the official Ducati team Davide Tardozzi, we should not trust the glaring appearances of the three days of MotoGP testing at Sepang. He thus wants to convince us that there is still work to be done at Ducati to be ready before the start of the campaign scheduled for Portimao on March 26. “ The competition is very active in innovation, our rivals have worked hard » declared the Italian to Sky Sport MotoGP. " We have made a small evolution of the Ducati 2022, but we are still far from satisfied ».

Tardozzi explains it this way: “ we have made progress, but there are still things that Pecco and Enea don't like. We have one more test in Portimao and that will be where we will decide on the final bike ". The team manager nevertheless noted an undeniable positive point in Malaysia: “ integration into the team was perfect. Enea was good and Pecco facilitated this integration. From this point of view, we are very happy ».

Davide Tardozzi Ducati: “il y a quelque chose que je n’aime pas dans l’aérodynamisme et on verra si on peut arranger ça pour Portimao"

But still: “ there is still something to develop on the bike, in Borgo Panigale the engineers always have something up their sleeve, it's something that still surprises me... » Then he specifies: “ there is something I don't like about the aerodynamics and we will see if we can fix that for Portimao ».

The Italian also observed the competition and he especially remembered two names: “ Aprilia confirms itself with the great work done on last year's bike, they have taken a huge leap forward. They have been very good at refining the 2023 bike, so kudos to them. At Yamaha they have surely acquired more top speed and to do this, you need to change something inside the engine. We need to see if this only improved the engine's performance or if it created other problems. And only they know it " finished Davide Tardozzi.

Ranking of MotoGP Test results at Sepang J3: 

Combined ranking of the MotoGP Test at Sepang J1/J2/J3:

Credit rankings: MotoGP.com