Ducati, already a step above in Germany? 

It's hard to understand... On a circuit where Ducati has only won once in 2008 with Casey Stoner, no less than five of its representatives were among the first six on the evening of the first day at the Sachsenring. 

And to top it all off, Francesco Bagnaia took advantage of the soft rear tire to break Marc Marquez's record with a lap in 1'20.018. “I have only been on the podium once on this circuit, it was in 2017,” the Italian recalled. It's never easy to be fast at the start of the weekend. Last year I was competitive during the race, but on the first day I was last. I really enjoyed the laps I completed today and I love arriving at a circuit and my feeling with the bike is already at this level. I am very happy. We did a good job with the tires and I don't want to change anything on my bike. The settings are already there. I just want to improve my pace tomorrow with the tires. »

Pecco Bagnaia breaks Sachsenring record ⏱️

The Ducatis will be formidable this weekend! 🔴#GermanGP | #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/L1qJzTeINu

— CANAL+ MotoGP™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) June 17, 2022

Regarding his pace with the hard tire which could be the choice of most of the protagonists for the race, the Italian added: “I am also happy with my pace and I was quite competitive. Aleix was too, but after 10 laps his times increased. Quarterly is regular, a little slower at the start, but very regular, between 21'4 and 21'5. I was quite competitive, because I was riding a small 1'21, 1'21.1 or 1'21.2. I'm pretty happy with the pace. This year's hard is last year's medium. It's a good tire. The medium will be difficult to use for racing, because after 8 or 10 laps it starts to move. The big question is the front: medium is good, hard is good, it's hard to choose. But we still have time to decide. »

The GP22 more skilful on the Sachsenring than the GP21 

With higher temperatures awaiting drivers on Saturday and Sunday, Bagnaia admits it will be important to be in front as quickly as possible during the race. “(…) If it's hot like the forecast says, it will be difficult to stay behind someone in terms of front tire pressure. But in all cases, we suffer less than others from higher temperatures. We'll see tomorrow. I hope it will be very hot in FP4 to understand the conditions. »

With five of the six leaders riding a GP22, “Pecco” indicates that there are a whole bunch of reasons that explain this: “A smaller, more manageable fairing. We worked a lot last year as well as in 2022 to improve this area of ​​our bike, because it is a bike that was not running. With Jack we have done a good job in this area. Last year's bike was the same as in 2020. And a bike that didn't turn became a bike that turned a lot. (…) This new fairing helps us a lot on this circuit. In Assen he could help us. At Mugello he helped us. That's a big improvement. »

Ducati does not let go of its ride height device before

Banned from 2023, the front ride height device is still developed by Aprilia, but also Ducati which seems determined to win a race with a system. This device, which allows the motorcycle to be lowered at the front when exiting a corner for better acceleration, was only used by Johann Zarco until Barcelona. Jorge Martin gave it a chance during the Jerez test which followed the Spanish GP, but the Madrilenian ultimately returned to a GP22 without this mechanism. 

More recently, during the Barcelona test, it was Jack Miller who tested it and the Australian was reportedly seen with it in FP1 on Friday in Germany even though the main person concerned claims that his Ducati was not equipped with it.

“I still use it and I'm getting used to it, but you have to have good settings to use it well,” said Zarco, who has had it since the opening of the season. Maybe he wanted to use it again to win something or to continue working with Ducati, because it's interesting development work even if we won't use it again next year. We think it can help if we use it well, but it's not easy to do. »

If the advantage of this system is undeniable when accelerating, it can be difficult to deal with when braking. “The benefit is that we have better acceleration, but it can change the feeling with the front because the height of the bike is not the same when you brake; that could be the only weak point,” Zarco said Friday evening.