MotoGP 2022 – Duel Quartararo – Bagnaia, Marquez as referee: Close-up on the three favorites for the title

Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha Factory)

His 2021 season

Unlike 2020, he did not give in under the weight of the challenge, punctuating his domination with decisive regularity with arrivals in the big points when he could not aim for victory. World number 1 after the French Grand Prix, the 5th of the 18 rounds on the calendar, he let his compatriot Johann Zarco (Ducati Pramac) lose his footing, he pushed aside reigning world champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki) to finally control his ultimate rival Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Team). In the end, he signed five victories and five other podiums, in addition to his five strangely aligned pole positions at the start of the season.

His test form

He attacked the 2022 tests at the top after a great physical preparation, aware that he did not have the label of favorite in view of the insufficient progress of his M1. He clearly saw what separated him from the best machines at Sepang by setting the seventh fastest time, less than 0.2 from Enea Bastianini (Ducati Gresini) but his trip to Mandalika reassured him, with a second fastest time only 0.014 from Pol Espargaro (Honda HRC).

Why he is a favorite

Because fighting for the title is above all a question of motivation and he has plenty to spare at the start of this energy-intensive world championship with 21 dates, a record. The 2021 season showed that he had taken a mental step by overcoming the repercussions of a new alert to his right forearm (the Loges syndrome, again) or the controversy of Montmelo, where, chest to the air, he had got rid of his chest protector while racing. Alcaniz had finished proving his ability to bounce back after an air hole.

Obstacles

His M1 no longer has the same homogeneity as in 2021, and it returns 9 km / h in Vmax to the Ducati GP22. In short, he will see the eight red machines pass him from all sides on the straights from Losail, not to mention the Honda of Marc Marquez, with the only hope of responding to braking. A survival operation in which he will also be helped by the superiority of his bike hit by the n°20 on corner entry.

Lucid, he claims a status of challenger without admitting defeat and his incredible victory in the temple of speed of Mugello in 2021, against the Ducati, is there to maintain hope. Even if it will be much harder than last year.

At the end of the contract, he spent the winter putting pressure on the factory, which has made much less progress than Ducati or Honda. The question is whether his negotiations with the competition cannot pollute his season.

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Team)

His 2021 season

He emerged later as a real rival to Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha Factory) for the title, although a good dose of optimism was necessary to believe it. But the Italian felt himself gaining power, and his team with him. His liberating victory at Alcaniz was a small masterpiece, and from there he has compiled four successes in the last six races, complete with five pole positions. And above all finished with 150 leading laps on the clock, far ahead of Fabio Quartararo’s 99 (Yamaha Factory).

The Turinese was the man of the end of the season, as the Tricolor himself recognized.

His test form

Stalled in sixth place in Malaysia, just ahead of Fabio Quartararo, the Transalpin was a little behind in Indonesia by signing a new top 6, 0″376 behind Pol Espargaro (Honda HRC). One explanation for all this: the GP22 has number of developments that he took the time to gauge.

Why he is a favorite

Because he arrives launched, with two victories at the end of the 2021 season and an impressive line of stats which make him THE favorite for supreme consecration. With the GP22, he has in one hand a machine from another dimension. More powerful engine with an extended range of use, optimized aero, new exhaust, “squating device” ensuring a lowered chassis position both front and rear: the bike shaped by the brilliant Gigi Dall’Igna is a gem of technology that will be formidable when its development is complete.

In short, Pecco has become the spearhead of Borgo Panigale, strong in the confidence of Dall’Igna, who greatly appreciates his technical stature. With a contract extended until 2024, he has everything to ride without asking any questions.

Obstacles

He had cracked at the worst time at Misano in 2021, four laps from a victory which was to push back the coronation of El Diablo, and this was a mark of weakness which he will no longer be able to show this year.

Marc Marquez (Honda HRC)

His 2021 season

Disjointed of course, because the Spaniard took it on the way after two dead ends to give himself time to recover from a bruised right arm, and he ended it with two weekends on his sofa because of a visual impairment following a fall at motocross.

Between the two, it was a roller coaster: two results far from his standards – but full of hope – and three retirements preceded his “traditional” but oh so reassuring victory at the Sachsenring. The tree still hid the forest but his last sequence of four races validated his return to the fore, culminating in a success in his other garden in Austin, as a prelude to that of Misano.

His test form

He trained as best he could with the handicap of diplopia and his insufficient physical condition caught up with him at Sepang. But it is misunderstanding him to think that he was going to reduce the sails. He just segmented his runs a little more to better focus on roughing out his extensively revamped RC213V. The key, an eighth time not far from Enea Bastianini (0″201) at Sepang, and a ninth place at 0″421 from his teammate Pol Espargaro at Mandalika.

Why he is a favorite

Because Honda is betting more than ever on its prodigy after two years of wandering without it, and the HRC is, with Ducati, the factory that has shown the greatest progress this winter. “We changed engine, chassis and electronics. It’s a completely different bike”, was pleased to inventory Tetsuhiro Kuwata, the Japanese technical director. Indeed, MM93 discovered in Asia an “easier”, “safer” motorcycle, which does not oblige him to play the tightrope walkers.

Obstacles

His recurring problem of diplopia now weighs above his head a sword of Damocles and his shoulder threatens to dislocate at the slightest fall. Can he curb his attacking temperament to protect himself from a new stoppage? The ace from Cervera still needs to drive on a wire, and to do otherwise is going to be very difficult for him.

A downside on the technical side: his RC213V no longer allows him to enter turns on the front axle as much as he likes to do. The six-time world champion has already started to change his riding style but it will probably take him a few Grand Prix weekends to do what he wants.