Ducati presents its weapon for MotoGP and Bagnaia goes to number 1

Madonna di Campiglio is the venue chosen by Ducati to present its teams for the 2023 MotoGP World Championship and the Superbike World Championship. The Italian firm raised the curtain on the new year by presenting its bikes from both events with one goal in mind: repeat their perfect 2022, where they won the riders’ titles in MotoGP and Superbikes with Pecco Bagnaia and Álvaro Bautista, respectively, in addition to the team and constructor crowns in the same category. “It is a very, very difficult challenge, the statistics also say. Few drivers and teams have repeated the following year. It is a difficult task, but we like challenges and we are here to try to achieve those this”, said general director of Ducati Corse, Gigi Dall’Igna. The baton for these words was taken by Ducati CEO, Claudio Domenicali, who made it clear that Gigi He rightly highlighted the “difficulty of the challenge”, but he wanted to highlight the “effort” that the company is making to achieve this.

“We are champions, but we have to keep our feet on the ground and use modesty, an important quality in life,” added Dall’Igna after revealing the decoration of the new arms from the Borgo Panigale brand (Bologna, Italy) for the MotoGP World Championship and the Series Derived Motorcycles World Championship (WorldSBK).

The same idea was highlighted by Ducati Corse sports director, Paolo Ciabatti. “We have two very strong teams and the objective is to repeat, although it will not be easy,” he said, reviewing the 2022 successes of the riders who will make his MotoGP team, the champion Bagnaia and his new partner, Enea Bastianini , promoted from the Gresini structure. Bagnaia signed 7 wins and a title he wants to defend on the back of the most competitive MotoGP bike everywhere, while ‘The Beast’ achieved 4 victories in 2022 with a private Ducati and now he hopes to fight it all . .

Bagnaia and Bautista, number 1 for MotoGP and Superbike

Without major aesthetic changes on the two bikes, the most notable were the number 1s that appeared at the helm of Bagnaia bikes, as MotoGP champion, and Bautista, as Superbike champion. Both debated whether or not to keep their usual number (63 for Pecco and 19 for Álvaro), but in the end, they chose number 1 because of its importance.

“It was a difficult choice, but I’m very happy. I chose the number in the photo shoot a week ago. 63 will always be my number and it remains on the helmet in a big way, but I made the decision based on the fact that the number 1 hasn’t been seen in MotoGP for a long time and it’s something I’ve always admired, racing number 1, I’ve always wanted to respect the fact of being the world champion, the fastest in the world. The number represents to who you are and 1 is the best way to honor what we did last year”, commented Bagnaia.

For his part, Bautista made the decision with his daughter: “I decided a little before last week. My daughter and I decided on it. All winter I asked him if he liked the 1 or the 19. I had the idea to keep the 19, but when I saw the 1 for the first time on the bike when I won the championship I thought you ride a Ducati wear number 1. Also It will be a good challenge for me. When you have 1 the only result is to win. It will be a great motivation for me, a good personal challenge. So I decided that for 1 with my daughter. Every time I ask him, he tells me that my number is “1 with 19″. So I paid tribute to him with 1 plus 19 in the small”.

Bastianini accepted the challenge

Enea Bastianini, Bagnaia’s new teammate in the official Ducati MotoGP team, is optimistic for his first season in red. “It’s very exciting. Very strong. I think 2022 will be one of my best years, with 4 wins, but now a new adventure begins and I have to stay focused because the responsibility of wearing the red jumpsuit is important. I’m happy and I think we’ll do a good job. We’ve started working with the new bike in tests and I think we have all the ingredients to do it well”, said Enea, 25, who this year will add his third year in MotoGP, the first as an official factory rider.

In this sense, Enea expects his results to be better with the inclusion of sprint races in the 2023 MotoGP season. “It’s another motivation. In the end we will have 42 races. It will be a difficult World Cup and it will be important to find consistency. What has hindered me so far has qualified and in 2022 I have improved. The ‘sprint race’ will be important for his growth. It was more difficult for me in the first laps, I am more of a diesel driver, so we will go for this new adventure”.

Bautista wants to continue growing

Despite his 38 years, Álvaro Bautista, the current Superbike world champion, assured that he wants to give “more” than how much he already showed in 2022, when he added up to 16 wins to get the crown. “I had a lot of fun driving. That’s the best motivation. I’ve been at the top level for many years, but I still keep the desire inside, the desire to have fun and develop as a pilot, that’s what gave me the strength to continue and keep that desire, to feel that I can give more”, commented one from Talavera de la Reina.