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It seems incredible that only one year has passed since the new chapter inaugurated by the Italian team. After the tragic death of Fausto Gresini, his wife Nadia and the team started (almost) from scratch. After the collaboration with Aprilia, the one with Ducati began, with many unknowns and few certainties.
Instead, it was a great season. Thanks to Enea Bastianini, who won the first race of the year in Qatar and then another 3, finishing in 3rd place in the championship, after having been in the fight for the title for a long time. There could not have been a better debut and the time has already come to confirm it. This time without the Beast, who is now dressed in the red of the factory Ducati team, but with two riders who want and must search for redemption.
They are Alex Marquez, who left Honda, and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who understood last year how difficult and ruthless MotoGP can be. Two young guys (the Spaniard is 26, the Italian is 24) with different stories but the same desire to win.
We often stop at Alex's surname and forget that he is a two-time world champion (in 2014 in Moto3 and in 2019 in Moto2), therefore a rider who deserves to be in MotoGP regardless of parentage. His entry into the premier class was not easy: in 2020 he found himself catapulted into the Honda factory team after Lorenzo's retirement, but before starting the year he learned that he would go to LCR in the following one and then he found himself alone due to Marc's injury. Despite everything, in his debut year he scored two podiums, which boded well, except that he was the victim of the involution of the RC213V.
For him it was time for a change of scenery, to get back into the game and to have a motorbike under his seat that would allow him only to think about riding. The Desmosedici GP22 (the one with which Bagnaia won the title) is a guarantee and the Gresini team a family environment where the pressure won't be too much. For him it will be the year of truth, as he has said several times it is all in his hands, or in his right wrist if you prefer.
Changing bikes in MotoGP is never easy, especially with tests reduced to a minimum (Alex will have 5 days, plus Valencia in November, to adapt to the Ducati before the start of the championship) but if a good morning starts in the morning, we are sure that he will have had a good winter. In Spain he was only able to have a first contact on the Italian bike, but the smile on his face in the evening said a lot, if not everything. If they're roses they'll bloom.
Di Giannantonio also comes from a season without much satisfaction, apart from the pole position at Mugello. The premier class is an ugly beast to tame and Fabio understood it first-hand. However, debuting means learning and the team rightly gave him a second chance. With some important changes in the team, because he will have Frankie Carchedi as crew chief, who until last year was alongside Joan Mir.
For Diggia, it is now the time to show what he can do. To succeed, he will have to take advantage of the experience of 2022 by learning from his mistakes, without putting too much pressure on himself. Easy to say and difficult to do, but Fabio has already shown his speed in the past.
The post-Bastianini period has already begun.
