The reigning champion was able to recover some of his braking prowess at the following Motegi round, altho🐭ugh not enough to prevent a double victory for title rival Jorge Martin.

W𝔍ith just three points now separating factory star Bagnaia and Pramac’s Martin, MotoGP effectively has a six-roun༒d title shootout.

As such, the difference between Bagna꧙ia and Marin, and therefore the world championship outcome, cou💖ld again come down to braking.

Enea Bastianini, Bagnaia’s now injured team-mate, told mahbx.com that braking is where al🌄l eight Ducati riders are noticeably different.

“Pecco style is really close with mine in corner entry, but in the last part of the braꦅking, we are different,” said Bastianini.

“But aꦡlso compared to the other Ducat♐i riders, it’s again completely different.

“Especially Jorge Mar𓆉tin or Johann Zarco. For me, it's impossible to compare with their data!”

So every Ducati rider is different in the last part of braking꧙🍌?

“Exactly,” Bastianini confirmed.

Those words were backed up by third in the standings Marco Bezzecchi, who recently cited braking as the key ing♑redient t𒁏o his 2023 success:

“I’ve been studying Pecco, Jorge and all the🐻 Ducati riders since the first time I came to MotoGP. I still need to do more steps to be constantly strong in braking because now I am strong in some tracks, but struggle at others.”

Bastianini: Rear of the bike felt unstable

Bastianini’s season has been bookended by injuries, fracturing h♈is shoulder when taken down by Luca Marini♏ at the Portimao season opener, then his ankle and hand when he triggered a first-turn pile-up in Catalunya.

In between, the Italian took aꦚ best finish of eighth. A far cry from his four victories on a year-old bike at Gresini Ducati la🍌st season.

“Last year I was in the comfort zone because the ’21 bike had made a lot of kilometres. And༒ this year I made other [development] work for the first time during the winter tests,” Bastianini said.

“The ‘23 bike isꦫ so nicꦗe, but I have to understand the strongest point.”

Interestingly, when quizzed on why he hasn’t felt as comfortable on the GP23, Bastianini pinpointed the kꦆind of rear-end braking instability that recently plagued Bagnaia.

“This bike is more reactive in the corners. And I lose sometimes because [it is] moving a lot, e✤specially on the rear, and when I have to brake, the bike is so unstable,🌱” Bastianini explained.

“This is the big change from the ’21 [at Gresini last year]. But after the Austrian race, we made a good step because we understood something o💙n that bike.

“When the bike is so aggressive it's difficult to be fast… If the bike is stable, it’s 💮better, because 300 horsepower is a lot!”

As MotoGP braking zo🍷nes become ever more hotly contested, so does the amount of front locking, as riders push the limits of control.

“From the TV it's difficult to see the front locking but the team knows w🌠hen they see the data in the box: ‘Look how many front 𝕴locks!’

“But when we ride, we know!” Bastianini smiled.