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The evil of the Ducati GP24 is called chattering. Made famous in unsuspected times by Biaggi, it manifests itself with vibrations that disturb the rider, and take away his sleep. Bagnaia and Martin have been affected, while Bastianini seems to have the antibodies, either way a cure must be found. Pecco, in Qatar, claimed that his confidence on the Desmosedici was at level 10, after Austin at 6. In Jerez he will be able to see if and how much he can fix it.
Pecco, how are you approaching this weekend?
"With the approach of getting back to 10. We know what our potential is and where we can go: on paper we are capable of winning all the races and that is our goal. But we need to start from a little further back, though; right now the situation is complicated because we don't have everything under control. In Austin we understood several things and here in Jerez we might be more competitive."
The problem is chattering, but Bastianini is not suffering from it.
"It is difficult to understand because Martin and I have a lot of chattering while Enea does not have any despite having a very similar setup. Not even the technicians can explain why Bastianini in Austin was so fast without having our problems. It is a complicated situation, but we are working on it. When it happens ... you can only wait for it to end (laughs). It's a vibration that starts from the back of the bike, but it's hard to predict because sometimes you feel it from one side and sometimes from the other. However, you can take some steps to avoid it."
Are these the downsides of developing a new bike?
"We have to understand it. For example, with the GP22 we already found the solution in Portimao and from there on we didn't touch anything. With last year's bike, on the other hand, it was a chase all season, even though I made 15 podiums. It depends a lot on the feeling, the GP24 has a huge potential but we still have to understand it."
Historically, though, you have always suffered at the beginning of the season.
"Except for last year. It's true that after 3 GPs I had only 3 more points than today, but when I crashed I was 2nd and 1st. This season, on the other hand, when I was knocked out in Portimao I was 5th.The potential is the same but we have to figure out how to solve this vibration problem and it is more complicated than we thought. We thought we succeeded in Qatar, but obviously it needs a bit more work."
Will racing on this track help?
"Jerez is one of the best Grand Prix for me, it was one of the first tracks I raced at when I was in CEV, it was a dream to do it when I was a kid. It has great braking and fast corners, so I really like it. I think I can be as competitive as I have been in the last two years, all the data we have collected will be able to take us a step forward."
It looks like it will be less hot than usual.
"Low temperatures mean records (laughs). Pirro tested here not long ago and didn't complain about chattering. It's a track with a lot of grip and usually the Ducati does well in those conditions."
Aprilia, Honda and KTM are also fielding their test riders; you can't anymore. Is this a disadvantage?
"With the new concession regime, Michele can no longer do the same work as before, for example, he can't try new things in races because we don't have wild cards. Already in the first GPs I tried things, and for sure on Monday, in testing, we will have new things because we need to improve."
It's hard to think that because in the first GPs you shattered track records...
"The bikes have improved and in MotoGP even small details, like those on aerodynamics, can make a big difference. In addition, the new tires brought by Michelin are better performing, as we had already seen in winter testing: in Sepang we lapped in 1'57", an incredible time."
You are in the press conference with Acosta, what do you think of him?
"Pedro is introducing a new riding style in MotoGP: he's making a difference in corner entry, because he can bring a lot of speed on entry and still make the bike turn. He's also riding without worrying too much about the tires and he's very good at it, it's certainly not a matter of luck."
Has the Aprilia surprised you?
"They found a nice balance on their bike. It doesn't have a great top speed, but a lot of grip and a lot of stability."
Lorenzo challenged Pedrosa to a boxing match: who do you bet on?
"Weight is weight ... I don't know ... it's hard to answer (laughs). Who would I take on? The smaller rider, or maybe the bigger one, so after one of his punches it would be over. I don't like to take too many blows (laughs)."
