For the past few seasons, Ducati has been working to a new MotoGP plan of rider development, abandoning its old tactic of trying to poach other factories’ stars and instead embarking upon a fresh approach of developing its own young talent.
That’s certainly been aided by the sheer abundance of Ducatis on the current grid – the Bologna bikes fill eight of the 24 places in the entry.
Yet while it’s in part paying off with five of Ducati’s riders already podium finishers in the opening half of the year, it’s also presented Ducati with a problem for 2023.
It now has find a way to prepare at least six latest-spec Desmosedici GP23 bikes or risk alienating some of the talent rising up through its ranks.
The 2022 grid currently has five of the latest spec of Ducati lining up every weekend, with the factory duo Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller, both Pramac Racing riders Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco, and one of the VR46 pair – Luca Marini – starting the year on the newest model of the bike, even if the factory machines are now slightly different thanks to a late swap back to a previous spec of engine.
That leaves Marini’s team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, a rookie podium finisher in the last round at the Dutch TT, and Gresini pairing Fabio Di Giannantonio and three-time race winner Enea Bastianini on 2021 machinery – by no means a bad bike, but very much last year’s hand-me-down with little in the way of mid-season development coming its way.
We already know that some of that will change for next year. Bastianini, bound either for Pramac Racing or the factory seat vacated by Miller depending on where Ducati decides to place him and Martin, will definitely have a 2023 bike.
His replacement at Gresini, Alex Marquez, already knows that he, like his team-mate-to-be Di Giannantonio, will have a 2022 model, thanks in part to the rather limited financial means of his new team, at least relative to Ducati’s other satellite squads.
That leaves the VR46 bikes.
With Marini the number one rider there thanks to his experience and his brother Valentino Rossi owning the team, and with the former Moto2 title contender finally finding his form in 2022, it’s hard to imagine that he will be in line for an equipment demotion next year, even if all it means in reality is that he starts next year on the final development model that he will end the current season on.
Yet with Bezzecchi making rapid progress up the standings in his debut season, peaking so far with his podium at Assen just before the series headed into the summer break, there’s an equally strong argument to be made for also providing him with the latest model next year if Ducati is to continue its dominance of the constructors’ championship.
We’ve already seen in 2022 what exactly is possible with old machinery, but also its limitations. Bastianini’s season has played out almost exactly as expected. Hoping to start the year strongly (although admittedly no-one expected him to be three wins strong) then expecting to taper off as the other factories and Ducati’s own GP22 riders developed their machines, that’s the exact trajectory that his year has taken.
That’s perhaps fine in 2023 for the likes of Marquez, too, as the Spaniard bids to reinvigorate his own career after three tough seasons in MotoGP on the Honda RC213V, first in factory Repsol colours and then at LCR – but very much always under the shadow of his big brother Marc.
Should he start the year with a handful of podiums and the occasional fight for victory – something that the past Moto3 and Moto2 world champion is more than capable of on the right machine – then it would cement his decision to leave Honda and silence many of the naysayers who are quick to deride his spot on the grid as nothing more than nepotism despite his own strong palmeres.
But the situation for Bezzecchi in particular is different. Young and hungry for longer-term success, it’s hard to imagine that he doesn’t have an eye on a factory Ducati seat in the future – what young Italian racer doesn’t, after all?
To achieve that, he needs to not only give himself the best chance possible in terms of machinery, he also needs to be involved in developing that bike too – something that won’t happen if he spends next year once again on good friend Bagnaia’s old machine.
Of course, there’s also a benefit to Ducati in having more bikes of the same spec on the grid. The Race argued last week that the variety of Ducati types in the field might well be hurting it this year, with three different specifications of machinery creating some problems that aren’t doing its riders’ title bid any favours.
However, it remains to be seen if it is in fact possible for Ducati to deliver on the likely request from VR46 to produce another 2023 bike for Bezzecchi.
It claimed 12 months ago that producing five handmade new bikes (and the plethora of custom spare parts needed to run them for a season) in time for the start of the championship was stretching the racing department to the absolute limit, hence Bastianini remaining on the old version despite his brilliant late-2021 form suggesting he deserved more. It’s not yet clear if extra capability has been added in light of Ducati’s latest successes.
If it hasn’t, someone in its line-up of stars will very much be offended by what’s on offer for 2023 and might wonder if Ducati really is the right place for them – something that Ducati also can’t afford to risk as it hunts for its elusive second riders’ world championship.
