Bagnaia revelling aboard Ducati bike that’s ‘developed a bit more on my side’

While that’s not a surprise given Bagnaia is the current MotoGP champion, Ducati have always been fair when it comes to providing equal machinery for its riders.

That remains the caseheading into the new season, although it appears as though small details have seemingly favoured Bagnaia, with the Italian ending day one of the Portimao test fastest by over two tenths. 

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Finding day one of the fine pre-season test a lot tougher, Bastianini was only 17th after finishing 1.2 seconds down on his teammate. 

"Sincerely, we have done a very good job today and we finished all the plans," Bagnaia told MotoGP.com. "I’m satisfied! We are already at 90% of the development of the new bike, so [on day two] we will try to finish everything. 

"Will be important to test the Sprint race, but in any case I’m very happy about today. The pace with the medium tyres, used tyres, soft tyres, everything was competitive so I’m happy. 

"It’s a bike we developed a bit more on my side, on my riding style and I’m starting to love every lap more. 

"Everything is okay with me and my riding style. This is a particular track that I really like. The layout is perfect for my riding style. I feel great with the new bike but let’s see during the season."

Like Bagnaia, another Ducati rider in Luca Marini continued to show incredible form as he secured second spot on the leaderboard.

After topping the end-of-season test in Valencia and the official Sepang test, Marini could wrap up the 2023 pre-season with a hat-trick of first places should he overcome Bagnaia and others during Sunday’s running.

Speaking about his opening day, Marini said: "It was another good day. We started with a little bit more difficulty at the beginning because this track is a lot different to Sepang and was difficult to come back and feel all the good sensations like the last three days of testing. 

"But after some work we found a really good compromise and I’m really happy with the work we did. I think we found a better solution for this track. 

"With the pace, the time attack at the end, we are ready to make another step. “For sure we want to try the rear tyres especially. 

"The soft tyres are good and look good for the normal race but we are worried about the left side because there is a lot of graining. 

"For 12 laps it is not a problem but for 25 it will be. We will maybe try a Sprint race simulation with the soft and then try another with the medium to understand the gap between the tyres."