Reigning world champion Bagnaia will likely be joined on the manufacturing unit squad by four-time race winner Bastianini in 2023 after he fought off Pramac’s Jorge Martin to assert the manufacturing unit seat vacated by KTM’s new signing Jack Miller.
There have been a number of flash factors throughout the 2022 season by which Bagnaia and Bastianini locked horns on monitor, most notably on the penultimate spherical of the marketing campaign in Malaysia when the previous may have wrapped up the championship.
Ducati then needed to subject questions concerning a doubtlessly tense relationship between both riders as team-mates in 2023 – although Ciabatti informed Autosport final November that it was “a luxurious” to have the line-up it does.
In an interview with Autosport’s Spanish language sister web site Motorsport.es on the Sepang pre-season check earlier this month, Ciabatti says there was no discussions since concerning primary rider standing throughout the staff and believes Bastianini will likely be extra “calm” in 2023 than he was final yr.
Enea Bastianini and Francesco Bagnaia will likely be team-mates at Ducati in 2023
Picture by: Motorsport Images
“What wanted to be clarified was already finished final yr,” Ciabatti stated at Sepang. “Enea needed to show that he deserved the official bike.
“Now that he has it, his mentality has modified and he has understood that he has to work along with Pecco. We see them each with the identical potentialities to struggle for every part.
“Final yr, Enea had a unique motivation than now. I hope I am not incorrect, however I believe we will likely be fairly calm as a result of Enea is aware of he has extra accountability.”
Ducati loved a clear sweep of the three days of testing in Malaysia, with VR46 rider Luca Marini topping the outing general with a 1m57.889s on his 2022-spec bike forward of Bagnaia.
The manufacturing unit riders felt the 2023 Desmosedici was already on the stage of the title-winning 2022 bike and are actually in search of refinements on the second check in Portugal subsequent month earlier than the season begins on 26 March on the Algarve Worldwide circuit.
