editor
Francesco Bagnaia had another day of preparation for the season, in which he will defend his MotoGP title. On Saturday at the second day of testing at Sepang the Ducati man continued to work on his new bike, which gave him encouraging indications as he set the fifth-fastest time.
The Italian told the press he had been concentrating on the Desmosedici GP23 and there had been further progress: ‘Today I just used the new bike, the 2023 bike, because I am confident that the potential is very high and today we took a normal step forward. I’m very happy with that; today we were very close to the 2022 specification and for tomorrow, considering the step we took today, we will move in the same direction. We will be on the same level as the old engine, which is already significant. I tested a new Öhlins fork which is longer and I feel it has great potential, but right now it needs more development because it’s very new and I’ve only had it on two exits; then it rained.’
As for the final day of testing, Bagnaia outlined his plans: ‘For tomorrow, the work plan will be a bit more intense because we didn’t do many laps today, but we will focus on the engine, on a simulation and also on the new swingarm which is maybe an improvement or not.’