Bagnaia happy to wait for 2022 Ducati, gathers fairing data

Francesco Bagnaia brushed off suggestions he might be concerned that, unlike some of their MotoGP rivals, Ducati did not bring a 2022 prototype to the Misano test.

The Italian, winner of the last two rounds but still 48 points behind Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo, finished the test a close second behind Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro despite missing the Wednesday afternoon session.

But while Honda and Yamaha had a new bike for their factory riders to evaluate in Italy, the 2022 Ducati won't be available to its race riders until the next and final test of the year, at Jerez, in November.

"About the other manufacturers with new bikes, I'm not worried because I know how much work Ducati are doing and I'm sure that when it will be ready our [2022] bike will be very competitive and strong," said Bagnaia.

While it remains to be seen what Gigi Dall’Igna and his design team have planned for next season's Desmosedici, Bagnaia's team-mate Jack Miller was one of those to note that the rear of the new Honda looks very much like the Ducati (while the front is similar to the Yamaha).

The addition of a Ducati-style 'salad box', thought to house a mass damper, means the upper exhaust on the Honda is now off-centre.

"I think the big eyepiece is the seat unit, looks very similar to us," Miller said. "Very similar to how all the motorcycles are now pretty much, they've had to move the exhaust to the side to put something [mass damper] inside the seat. Move that weight around.

"I think they've done a lot of work, because it's a reconfiguration of the bike, I guess. So that was pretty impressive."

The Australian had also been seen taking a look at the Repsol Hondas being warmed in pit lane before the start of day one of testing.

"I was really only looking at the old bikes, they had the new ones covered up," Miller said. "Just how much they've changed since I was there. Just having a look, it was a rainy day, not much else to do."

In terms of Ducati's own test work, the Italian factory's main 2022 focus was to gather data on new aerodynamic packages.

"Was a different type of fairing with something good and something bad," said Bagnaia, reciting the 'positives and negatives' mantra heard whenever a MotoGP rider is told not to give anything away about a new part.

"I'm sure that with these two days we have given to Ducati a lot of data to understand if it can be with more potential.

"But it's not sure that this will be our fairing for next year yet. It was good but some things were worse - not too much, but [some]. So we have to see what will happen with this fairing. But it was good and interesting to try."

Miller, who left the test fifth fastest, added of the aero developments: "For sure there'll be some more steps to be made, but I think we've found a decent direction on which way to go, and there'll be evolutions of those to come in the future, hopefully."

Turning to this season, Bagnaia also "tried different things most of all for the next race here in October and it went well. The feeling was very good with the bike and we improved a bit our pace, so I'm very happy."

Miller, who also has two wins this season but is only fifth in the world championship due to three non-scores, said: "We're always looking to get more grip, and have more acceleration. So working on setup, trying a few different shock settings, stuff like that.

"But in general, it was a positive test, my rhythm was really really good, I was able to put in a lot of laps together, and especially after a race weekend, understand how the bike's reacting later on in the race. Working on that, pretty much."

The Australian, who has pledged to help Bagnaia's title challenge if he can, also suggested there could be some new parts on the factory Desmosedicis in Texas next weekend.

"We've got a couple of pieces that I think will be on the bike in Texas, they're not hard to miss," he said, perhaps suggesting some new aerodynamic parts/covers to help top speed on the long back straight.

Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin (15th) also tested Ducati’s 2022 prototype fairing, while team-mate Johann Zarco left the test after day one to undergo arm pump surgery.

Podium finisher Enea Bastianini (20th) crashed on both days. By contrast, Avintia team-mate Luca Marini had a strong test with tenth place on his 2019 bike.