Ducati’s MotoGP link from Stoner to Bagnaia

Casey Stoner’s former crew chief Cristian Gabarrini is on the verge of winning his second MotoGP crown with Ducati, at the same time as the factory loses two of its top crew chiefs to KTM

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Casey Stoner and Cristian Gabarrini copy

Stoner and Gabarrini at Ducati. Gabarrini followed Stoner to Honda in 2011, returning to Ducati in 2017, with Lorenzo

Ducati

There is pretty much nothing that connects Ducati’s 2007 Desmosedici, which carried Casey Stoner to the company’s first MotoGP championship, and the 2022 Desmosedici that will (barring disasters) take Pecco Bagnaia to the company’s second MotoGP riders’ crown at Valencia this Sunday.

Everything else has changed but two things do remain the same: the basic layout of Ducati’s 90-degree V4 engine and the crew chief that sat by Stoner’s side and now sits by Bagnaia’s side.

The biggest change, of course, is the character of the Desmosedici – in 2007 only one rider could ride the bike fast, now everyone can ride it fast.

Crew chiefs are as much a psychiatrist and confidant as an engineer. Combining heart and science isn’t easy

Cristian Gabarrini was arguably the first technician to fully grasp the genius of Stoner. The Italian was a data engineer in Lucio Cecchinello’s team when the Aussie was a raw teenager, riding an LCR Aprilia RSW250. Stoner’s throttle traces blew Gabarrini’s mind – the Italian had never seen anyone open the gas so early and so hard when exiting corners.

Gabarrini joined Ducati in 2006, Stoner arrived in 2007 and the rest is history. The pair built up a relationship that was so special that when Stoner defected to Honda in 2011 he took Gabarrini with him.

Crew chiefs have a specific job in MotoGP. They are the rider’s first point of contact in the garage. The crew chief doesn’t only need to listen to what the rider says he also needs to look after the rider’s head and his heart, so he is as much a psychiatrist and confidant as an engineer. Combining heart and science isn’t easy, which is why really good crew chiefs are rare.

Casey Stoner and Pecco Bagnaia

Ducati’s 2022 Desmosedici is nothing like its 2007 ancestor. And no surprise because iPads didn’t even exist in 2007…

Ducati

Crew chiefs communicate with their riders after each exit – via speaking and by the look in their eyes and the waving of their hands – then adjust the bike accordingly and create a strategy for the race. The crew chief also translates the rider’s thoughts and feelings to factory engineers, so they can help that weekend and in developing the motorcycle for the future.

Gabarrini won his second MotoGP title, with Stoner and Honda, in 2011 and might have won a third in 2012 if Bridgestone hadn’t changed its front-tyre construction midway through the season, which gave the RC213V serious chatter problems. He stayed with HRC after Stoner retired at the end of 2012, first as an engineer within the Repsol Honda team, then as crew chief to rookie Jack Miller. He returned to Ducati in 2017, looking after new signing Jorge Lorenzo, who might’ve won the factory’s second world title if factory management hadn’t fallen out with the Spaniard in 2018.

Gabarrini began his association with reigning Moto2 champ Bagnaia in 2019, first at Pramac Ducati, then from last year within the factory outfit.

Ducati first really understood that Bagnaia was its great hope for MotoGP title success during 2020, his second season in the premier class. The youngster had a mostly horrible rookie MotoGP year, when he crashed more than anyone, apart from Jack Miller and Johann Zarco.

Pecco Bagnaia with Cristian Gabarrini

Bagnaia and Gabarrini this year – Gabarrini didn’t take long to realise that Bagnaia’s style was similar to Lorenzo’s and ideal for Michelin’s current rear slick

Ducati

His problem was losing the front into corners because he was braking so late and entering so fast.

“When I started with Ducati I was always crashing because my feeling with the front was never very good,” said Bagnaia.

Finally, near the end of 2019, Ducati engineers convinced him to change his bike set-up and fine-tune his riding technique.

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“All through 2019 Pecco’s crew chief Cristian [Gabarrini] and his electronics engineer Tommy [Pagano] had discussed this with him,” factory team manager Davide Tardozzi told me in September 2020. “Finally in Thailand he understood he had to follow their advice.”

“The main difference between Pecco and our factory riders Andrea [Dovizioso] and Danilo [Petrucci] is that Pecco carries much more corner speed. The styles of Andrea and Danilo used to work so well, but not with the 2020 rear tyre.”

Michelin’s new-for-2020 rear slick, with its softer, more squidgy casing, needs a smoother technique, which is exactly how Bagnaia rides, just like Lorenzo, so his style was obviously Ducati’s future.

The big plus here was that Bagnaia’s corner speed also helped fix the Desmosedici’s age-old turning problem.

“With the new rear tyre Pecco has maximised his riding style and although he hasn’t fixed the Ducati’s turning problem, his way of riding minimises the problem,” added Tardozzi.

Alberto Giribuola

Giribuola has won 17 MotoGP races with Dovizioso and Bastianini. Next year he will have a senior role at KTM

Gresini Racing

“I had some good races in 2020,” continued Bagnaia. “By 2021 I knew the Ducati very well and we had adapted the setting for my corner-speed style, so now the bike is sweeter for that and I have a great feeling with the front of the bike, which gives me a lot of confidence in braking and entry.”

Ducati did its bit for the turning issue by introducing Formula 1-inspired diffusers for 2021, which accelerate airflow beneath the fairing to create an area of low pressure that sucks the bike into the asphalt, improving grip and thereby turning.

Giribuola, who guided Bastianini to be one of the fastest riders, may be a crucial loss

Subtle but important changes to the 2022 Desmosedici confused Bagnaia and Ducati in the early stages of this season, causing defeats and crashes. But once Gabarrini and his fellow engineers had found a setting that once again allowed him to brake and enter as fast as he can the 25-year-old was on his way, taking six wins between May and September and taking the title lead from Fabio Quartararo with his podium finish two races ago in Australia.

This weekend all Bagnaia needs to secure the title is finish 14th or better, even if Quartararo wins the race. In other words it will take a crash or a mechanical to end his hopes.

Bagnaia and Gabarrini will stay together for 2023 but Ducati will lose two of its top crew chiefs for next year, due to KTM’s aggressive hiring policy, which has had the Austrian factory raiding some of Ducati’s top talent over the last few years. The Italian marque has the best bike on the grid, so it makes sense for KTM, currently contesting only its seventh MotoGP season, to lure engineers from Bologna to Mattighofen, especially since both factories use V4 engines.

Fabiano Sterlacchini

Fabiano Sterlacchini, who left Ducati last year to become KTM’s MotoGP technical director

KTM

The crew chiefs making the move are Enea Bastianini’s and Jack Miller’s right-hand men Alberto Giribuola and Cristhian Pupulin.

Giribuola may be a crucial loss to Ducati, because he was Dovizioso’s crew chief when the Italian won so many races for the brand and has guided Bastianini from MotoGP rookie to one of the fastest riders on the grid. Giribuola will assume a senior technical role at KTM, where he will join Francesco Guidotti, who ended ten years at Pramac Ducati to become team manger of the factory KTM squad this year, and Fabiano Sterlacchini, who left Ducati in 2021 after 17 years, including eight as the factory’s MotoGP technical coordinator, to become KTM’s MotoGP technical director.

Pupulin, who has been at Ducati for 21 years, will remain as Miller’s crew chief at KTM.

Of course, the big question behind this game of musical chairs is how much it will affect next year’s expected duel between Bagnaia and new factory team-mate Bastianini? Without a doubt, losing Giribuola isn’t a good thing, but Bastianini is confident he will work well with new crew chief Marco Rigamonti, currently Johann Zarco’s sidekick at Pramac Ducati. Meanwhile Zarco will renew his relationship with his former Moto2 crew chief Massimo Branchini.

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