Francesco Bagnaia urged Ducati to not pair him with a disruptive team-mate in its MotoGP squad next year, says its CEO, Claudio Domenicali.
The latest MotoGP world champion will share the Ducati Lenovo Team garage in 2023 with Enea Bastianini, who got the nod over Jorge Martin and Jack Miller.
There are signs that the Bagnaia-Bastianini dynamic could be an explosive one, but Domenicali believes that will not be so.
“Pecco, a few months ago, had said something that I had marked to myself: ‘We do not need someone who makes a mess when they arrive,’” he told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We won’t do it.”
Bastianini emerged as one of Bagnaia’s biggest rivals in 2022, with the pair sharing some memorable on-track duels and off-track niggle.
That would be all the more problematic if criticism over the years about Ducati’s emphasis on its machinery over its riders was founded.
Domenicali seemed to implicitly concede that had been a weakness, but claimed it has learnt from past mistakes.
“I am aware of the risk of putting together two such strong riders,” he remarked.
“Pecco [Bagnaia] will want to beat Enea, who will want to prove to be the strongest.
“But this energy is very important and I am convinced that the team has grown a lot in the ability to see the athlete as a person and to manage this difficulty.”
Domenicali’s comments come after Ducati Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti declared that Bagnaia and Bastianini need not be friends so long as they respect each other, but acknowledged the potential for “spice” in their garage.
‘La Bestia’ was confirmed as the new factory team rider for 2023 and 2024 in late-August, with Martin remaining at Pramac Racing, where he will continue to be partnered by Johann Zarco, both of whom remain on Ducati contracts.
Miller has moved to Red Bull KTM Factory Racing while Alex Marquez has switched from satellite Honda team LCR to take over the Gresini Racing seat which Bastianini had occupied.
