The four-time race winner came into the new campaign as hot favourite to challenge for the championship after finishing 2021 runner-up, while declaring in November’s Jerez test that Ducati had improved on an already “perfect bike”.
But the pre-season for Ducati was difficult, as a problematic 2022 engine – with an aggressive power delivery – prompted him and team-mate Jack Miller into using a hybrid 2021/2022 motor for the new season.
Bagnaia struggled to ninth in qualifying and dropped to 14th on the opening lap, before ending his race on the 12th tour in a collision with Pramac poleman Jorge Martin, while Gresini’s Enea Bastianini on a year-old Ducati won the race.
The Ducati rider says he struggled to find the feeling he had with the front-end of the bike in 2021 during the Qatar weekend, and believes he hasn’t focused enough on his own riding style with the GP22.
“It’s a bit strange because in my situation I work too much,” he said.
“We finished our work in…
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