Francesco Bagnaia couldn’t have asked for a better outcome on the last day of MotoGP testing in Sepang. The Ducati rider not only found an ideal setup for the bike but also set the fastest time – an impressive 1m56.682s.
The two-time world champion confirmed that he ended the test with good sensations: ‘Compared to one year ago, yes, I felt great with my bike. The only thing that wasn’t 100% nice was that in the long run I had an issue with the bike that was slowing me down a bit. But I had already started, so I decided not go in to reset my mind. It was better to continue. We demonstrated and we know perfectly the potential of this bike. We managed to improve a lot the situation in just three days. I think we are at a good point, 80% in terms of consistency, so we move to Qatar in a good shape’.
When asked if the bike he finished with on Thursday would be the final version for the Qatar GP, Bagnaia replied: ‘I think it will be more or less like this. From now on we will try different maps in terms of power delivery’.
And what is the biggest virtue of the Ducati Desmosedici GP24 for the Italian? ‘The braking because it has improved a lot. Last year I was struggling on the braking – it was good in the straight, but in the [corner] entry I was always needing a lot of work during the race weekend. And with this bike looks more similar to the 2022 that on the braking was helping me a bit more in the entry’, he told.