The core of the discussion and “discord” revolves around the fact that Francesco Bagnaia, the factory Ducati rider, used a year-old Ducati Desmosedici GP24 (Franco Morbidelli’s bike from the VR46 satellite team) during a private test at Misano. This followed a noticeable dip in his performance on the current-spec GP25.
Here’s a breakdown of the key elements and the resulting controversy:
- The Confirmation: VR46 team director Alessio “Uccio” Salucci publicly confirmed that Bagnaia had “borrowed” Franco Morbidelli’s GP24 bike for the test day after the San Marino Grand Prix. This confirmation contradicted the official line from the Ducati Factory team (Ducati Lenovo), which had been cagey and deliberately vague about the nature of the test items, with Bagnaia himself only admitting he had used “items that we were using in the past.”
- The Discord/Controversy:
- Secrecy vs. Transparency: Ducati’s factory management, particularly Team Manager Davide Tardozzi, was reportedly unimpressed by Salucci’s admission, suggesting a breakdown in internal communication or a desire to keep the specifics of the factory team’s struggles and subsequent fix secret.
- Implication of the GP25: Testing the older bike suggested that the current GP25 was fundamentally flawed for Bagnaia’s riding style and that he found a better feeling with the chassis/setup of the GP24. This made the factory team look like they had developed a less competitive machine for their reigning champion.
- Success Follows Test: The controversy was amplified when Bagnaia experienced an immediate and significant return to form in the following race at Motegi (Japan), where he achieved a dominant double victory, which the paddock widely attributed to the changes stemming from the Misano test. This success validated the test and the need to look “backward” for performance.
- Regulations: The use of an older bike raised questions, though it was generally understood that while Bagnaia could not switch to the GP24 engine due to homologation rules, he could test and adopt other components (like the chassis) from the older specification if compatible with his current engine.
Sources
- VR46 Confirmation and Ducati Discord:
- Ducati discord after VR46’s Bagnaia old-bike test admission (The Race)
- VR46 spills the beans on Bagnaia testing Morbidelli’s MotoGP bike (Autosport)
- Official Confirmation of GP24 Use:
- VR46 confirm Bagnaia tried their GP24 at Misano Test (MotoGP – Note: Link may be in German/international format but confirms the key fact)
- VR46 confirm Francesco Bagnaia “tried our GP24” at Misano MotoGP test (Crash.net)
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