Ducati MotoGP riders Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio di Giannantonio believe the Borgo Panigale has “more potential” than Aprilia at this weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix.
The duo feels that the anti-clockwise circuit, renowned for its grippy surface, will play into the strengths of the Desmosedici and allow Ducati to bounce back after a difficult weekend at Silverstone.
While reigning champion Marc Marquez was already a favourite heading into the weekend, given his strong track record at Aragon, team-mate Bagnaia has reason to believe all Ducati riders will perform well this weekend.
“I'm sure that Ducati here has more potential than Aprilia because of the level of grip, and the layout is more like Brno,” said the factory Ducati rider.
“It's the only left-handed track that I feel good about, so let's see if we can fight and we can have the potential.”
The balance of power in MotoGP has swung back and forth between the two Italian manufacturers this year, with Aprilia scoring seven wins and Ducati taking five victories. Over the last seven weekends, Ducati has won four times, with Aprilia claiming the top spot in the remaining three races.
VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio believes Aprilia’s advantage on low-grip venues wouldn’t be applicable at Aragon, bringing Ducati back into play this weekend.
“We saw that Aprilia has an amazing grip where the grip level [at the track] is not that high. Here, it is one of the highest levels of grip on the calendar. So I really hope that we have a better hand compared to them,” he said.
“But I think we should not focus on what we have on paper. We should focus on what we didn't have in the last races and what we can bring to have a much better package with rider and bike on track.”
The two-time grand prix winner added: “I heard from people that we should have less gap compared to the Aprilias here. I really hope so. And in case, I would love to try to push.
“I think it's the right time of the championship to try to push, try different things on the bike that we never try, try to achieve something, and then be really in the fight with them.”
