Pecco Bagnaia seemed to have started the new MotoGP season strong straight away, after the victory in Qatar. But the road immediately became uphill, first with the accident in Portimao which also involved Marc Marquez, then with the lack of grip in Austin which relegated him to fifth place. In the drivers’ standings the Piedmontese is fifth with 50 points, 30 points behind provisional leader Jorge Martin. Second place for Enea Bastianini who is slowly regaining confidence with the Ducati Desmosedici GP.
Vinales’ victory…
As expected, European rivals Aprilia and KTM are closing the gap on the Borgo Panigale manufacturer. In Austin, Maverick Vinales achieved a double victory in the Sprint and in the Sunday race, Pedro Acosta finished second and reiterated that he can compete even with the best. They will be two tough nuts for Ducati, especially the Spanish rookie, who has plenty of time ahead of him to confirm himself as a champion. Team manager Davide Tardozzi can only pay tribute to his opponents after the weekend in Texas. “Vinales and Acosta made the difference over the weekend. I’m pleased to see that the Ducati group is behind, from third to sixth place, as a bike we have confirmed our performance. We must work to improve further and give more performance to our drivers“.
…and the rise of Acosta
A private test by Michele Pirro is scheduled in Barcelona, with some updates that will be entrusted to the official riders in the official MotoGP test which will be held immediately after the Jerez GP. The fact is that competition is coming and the results will no longer be as obvious as last season. “Vinales is a talent, he has had ups and downs in his career, he has managed to win with three different brands. Acosta will be one of the riders who will compete for the World Championship in the future and I fear for us that he could do it again this year – admitted Davide Tardozzi to Sky Sport MotoGP -. They are supported by good bikes and are making a difference“.
Ducati is still leading the standings with Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini is second. It is therefore not a single race that discourages Ducati in the MotoGP championship. However, we must keep our guard up in view of the long journey ahead. Davide Tardozzi rules out bad tire choice at COTA. “The choice of compounds for Ducati was absolutely correct, as demonstrated by Enea’s 2’03”2 on the last lap. Then if other bikes have different characteristics, wear tires more and can’t afford the luxury of soft ones in the race, that’s another matter.“.
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