The Spaniard to𓃲ok Aprilia’s first MotoGP win last season𒁏 and remained in the thick of the championship battle until the RS-GP’s form faded over the unfamiliar flyaway rounds.

That wasn't helped by Espargaro and team-mate Maverick V𒆙inales being the only Aprilia riders on the grid, starving the factory of track data.

By contrast, Ducati, which 𒆙fills a third of🤡 the MotoGP grid courtesy of its eight riders, was able to overcome early problems with its GP22 and win the title with Francesco Bagnaia.

“I think that one of the secrets of Ducati’s success has been to work together with its satellite teams, to impr🍸ove the level of the factory team,” Esp⛎argaro said.

“They proved that [last] year when they started the season with a lot of problems🙈 but worked really well togetherꦍ and achieved the title.”

Bagnaia and the GP22 didn’t win 🍒a race until round 6, but went on to bridge a massive 91-point deficit to Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Ducati 'not relying only on one fast rider'

Ducati Corse technical director Davide Barana con🔯firmed that the factory's long-running eight-bike ‘strategy’ had paid off.

“The season seems to demonstr🍌ate that our technical and sporting management style is paying back. To have on track eight different riders with very competitive skills allows up to collect a lot of data,” Barana said.

“That’s also useful for each rider. It has always been our policy to share completely the information between our teams. And also helps a lot to develop the bike for sure becauseꦛ we are not relying only on one fast rider but a lot of them.

“Each has his own character, his own skills and ability, and combining all these different inputs we are sure is one of the key fact🍷ors to devel🍌op our best bike.”

On overcoming the GP22’s early troubles, Barana added: “For racing management, also from a technical and sporting point of view, it’s not an easy job. We always struggle between the need tᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚo develop the bike and also to keep confidence on the bike for our riders, also for the technicians to manage properly the biꦛke.

“Once you r🏅each a certain level of performance, sometimes you are scared to more or change something. This is always a risk, but it’s a risk that we have to take because once you stop, once you believe yo✱u have ‘arrived’, you start to lose.

“So in𒅌 the beginning of this season we continued to be aggressive on the development of the bike despite it already being a good bike [at the end of 2021]. And this is the reason it took a while for us and our riders to get the same confidence as with the previous bike to achieve the best results.

“But it𓄧’s important for us to never stop devel𒈔opment.”

‘The Ducati report’

During last season, eventual MotoGP Rookie of the Year Marco Bezzecchi let slip that Ducati uses its wea𓄧lth of data to prepare a special report for each of its eight riders after every event, to help them understand where they can improve.

“Almost all the track [at Muge🌳llo] I could brake like Pecco, but there are some places where he makes the difference on braking and entry,” Bezzecchi had said. “It’s where I’ve been working since the beginning of the year.

“In Le Mans I was very good, in Mugello I was very good, with just two corners where I w꧑as still missing something. But looking at the report from Ducati I am satisfied with my work..."

“I lose only in two places - Corner 4 and 6, in braking✃ - the rest I do well," Bezzecchi continued. "I♍ was riding well in almost all the track but in these two places I could do a little bit better.”

Pressed on what other information💖 is included in the Ducati report, the young Italian said: “It’s a little bit secret! It’s a report from the [previous] race weekend. I cannot say more.”

Do you get🔯 to see the reports made for the other Ducati riders? “No, it’s [just] my report.”

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RNF will make Aprilia more ‘data rich’

While Espargaro and Vinales continue at the factory team this🧸 y♕ear, the new RNF Aprilia squad will run five-time MotoGP winner Miguel Oliveira and 2022 rookie Raul Fernandez on year-old machines.

While Espargaro and Vinales will hope to benefit fromꦺ the kind of extra riding insight contained in the Ducati reports, April🥃ia technical director Romano Albesiano expects the doubling of track data to substantially increase their understanding of the RS-GP.

“Our job is basically to increase our understanding of the motorcycle and having different riders, and next year we will have four riders, will make us ⭕even more rich in terms of data,” Albesiano said.

“Different riders with a different style, different approac꧃h, just gives us more information and to follow a different way of riding [for each] is not difficult honestly.

“Okay you cannot make confusion, but if you have clear ideas, you can do it easily, because 𒁏these bikes ha🍒ve such a wide range of adjustability.”

Ducati continues with eight riders this season, spread across the facto🎉ry, Pramac, Gresini and VR46 team𒐪s.

Aprilia now joins Honda and KTM with four entries while RNF’s switch and Suzuki’s exit&nb✃sp;leaves Yamaha as the only factory without a sa✨tellite team.