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It's a Ducati that dreams big and has every right to do so. The Sepang tests left a smile on the face of the Borgo Panigale manufacturer, which goes hunting for confirmation in Thailand. Everyone's hopes are resting on Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, with Davide Tardozzi taking stock on the eve of the last winter test.
Precisely from the relationship between the two riders comes the team manager's analysis
"Marc and Pecco won't give each other, brakes but, right from the start, they understood that working together is good for both of them," he began. "All of this surprises us continuously, because their relationship goes beyond the track. This is all the result of intelligence without there being an end to the means for either. Both realized they can understand something from each other."
Are they following the same direction of development or not?
"They're following the same direction. Never before have I seen riders give such similar information. In Sepang, they didn't even talk to each other and were giving the same comments, even saying exactly the engine grades. Even Gigi was surprised by this."
How impressed were you with Marc's simulation in Sepang simulation?
"The Sprint that surprised us was Alex's, a rider who has always gone fast in Malaysia. Pecco was also fast, despite the fact that someone didn't know what they were testing, since the two bikes weren't similar."
In what do Pecco and Marc impress you?
"Pecco is serene, because he's aware of his qualities and his speed, since 2021. Marc, on the other hand, doesn't act like an eight-time world champion but like a rider who has humility when entering a garage like ours."
Suppo said Ducati can't make the mistake of making Bagnaia perceive that they're more in love with Marc than him.
"Pecco has to be calm. He knows us, we know how much we support him, and we'll do the same with Marc, like it's always been."
The MotoGP returns for the second time in a winter test in Buiriram. Do you remember Lorenzo's test?
"I was talking about it more or less two hours ago with Sterlacchini. We remembered that test, where all kinds of things happened. In that test, Jorge was misguided by a non-Ducati person. But Gigi accommodated him, and Lorenzo still gave important information over time, as concepts, which we still bring with us today."
How different is that Ducati from today's?
"Today's Ducati is difficult to improve, but Gigi is an innovator, and the guys always have some ideas."
What can you tell us, instead, about the 2027 engine?
"The engine has already been thought out and is under development."
Speaking of the engine, which one do you choose?
"A big effort has been made for the 2025 engine, which has some peculiarities, and the engineers will have to make a decision. At the moment, there's not one engine that overpowers the other. Gigi is innovative and also conservative when there's a direction to be maintained. For what has been done in the past and the risks taken, it can't be ruled out that the 2024 engine will be reconfirmed, since we it'll then be frozen."
