Bagnaia retains title with a Ducati threatening to dominate MotoGP

Four months after the close of the 2022 campaign, ‘Pecco’ and Spanish in the ‘queen’ category Augusto Fernandez And izan guevara The action returns to the championship for a long year in Moto2 and Moto3 respectively. 21 Grand Prizes, Only after the introduction of new sprint races every Saturday afternoon in MotoGP, more points and more points are at stake than ever before in its history.

Ducati starts out as a favorite

Everything in MotoGP, at least according to what was seen in the pre-season, Ducati once again looks like the best motorcycle and the competitor to beat for the rest. The Borgo Panigale brand had a great 2022, conquering all titles (Driver, Constructors and Team), ending the 15-year wait, and will now successfully attempt to defend its throne with eight Desmosedici on the grid. all at the top of the test

Bagnaia, who preferred to wear the ‘1’ of the champion, managed to beat the Frenchman by 91 points in the second major part of the year. Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) take the crown and his goal is to achieve what Casey Stoner couldn’t with an Italian motorcycle. The Australian was the champion in 2007, but lost very clearly to Italian Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) the following year.

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Italian rider repatriates MotoGP crown 13 years later Bring back the dominance of Italy in the ‘queen’ category, but that will now have to deal with the extra pressure of being the undisputed opponent to beat. For now, he’s made it clear in the preseason that Ducati is still strong and was by far the fastest at Portimao two weeks ago.

His main rival initially seems to be his compatriot. enea bastianiniThe new partner in the team’s official structure is Desmosedici from Gresini Racing last year, who placed third in the World Cup and had four wins, one less than the champion.

The rest of the motorcycles of the Italian brand, as Spaniards Jorge Martin (Pramac Race) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing) among them, they will also want to ‘fight’ the ‘boss’, the rest of the applicants being led by Fabio Quartararo, who was champion in 2021 and runner-up last year when he led the first division. of the season. The Nice man struggled in the Sepang (Malaysia) tests, but managed to place the ‘M1’ closer in the Portimao tests, a circuit he had won on his last two visits.

with Aprilia Alex Espargaro And Maverick Vinales He also hopes to keep moving forward and take another step forward after a recent campaign in Argentina where he went more or less with the man from the Granollers who won the brand’s first MotoGP victory; Repsol Honda remains unknown, but ‘trusts’ once again marc marquez.

Márquez satisfied with his physique

The eight-time world champion is enthusiastic and reassuring after three seasons marked by his physique. The decline in Jerez in July 2020, ordeal with your shoulder right, he’s had four surgeries since then, the last one in June. Now, the sensations are finally looking positive and the guy from Cervera will try to make the most of it. a bike that doesn’t look competitive enough.

However, it seems that the best understands the needs of this mountain, which has been gray for several years and is far from the best pre-season. Already in 2021, despite missing six Grand Prix, they were the best drivers of the golden-winged brand and were capable of giving the Japanese factory its only podium in 2022, second place in Australia.

Next to her is a new partner, also world champion (2020) in the ‘queen’ category Joan Mir, He said Dani Pedrosa will need to adapt to his new bike as soon as possible after passing Suzuki, who has left the championship, to increase his competitiveness in the ‘box’ that has been virtually nonexistent since his departure.

The other pilot from the Hamamatsu factory, alex rinseHe also landed on Honda in the LCR squad to try to shine in a World Cup with Spanish representation completed by Pol Espargaró (KTM), Augusto Fernández (KTM) and Raúl Fernández (Aprilia).

Acosta and Canet, options on Moto2, Masià on Moto3

In 2022, the Spanish-dominated Moto3 and Moto2 categories will not have their current champions there, as they both exist. Izan Guevara and Augusto Fernández make the leap to compete in Moto2 and MotoGP respectively.

It’s mid-level where you have more options to be a national winner again by number. Pedro Acosta (Kalex). One of the Moto3 world champions in 2021 has already experienced the first year of the always complex adaptation, which was positive in his case as he finished fifth overall, adding three wins and two runners-up.

Moreover, Coming from Mazarrón will start the championship with confirmation of being the fastest in the previous tests in Portimao., but the real threat is always in an equal category, with a citizen like Valencian ‘senior’ Aron Canet (Kalex). Moto3 champion Izan Guevara (Kalex) will miss the start of the World Championship due to a wrist injury.

There will also be a lot of competition in Moto3, where Spain has dominated since 2020 (Albert Arenas, Acosta and Guevara), and it’s where riders who have been in the category for several years will try to dominate, including Jaume Masiá. its seventh season and will try to be the best Spanish presence.