Ducati confirms Valencia team orders

Ducati team orders have been a talking point in recent weeks as the 2022 MotoGP season nears its climactic conclusion.

With Pecco Bagnaia now just two points away from the hard-fought crown, Ducati Corse Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti made one thing clear ahead of the final round: “a Ducati must win in Valencia regardless of the rider.”

While Ducati has seen consecutive success in both the teams and constructors championships in recent years, and taken a significant share of the podium celebrations, the rider’s title has remained illusive. Not since Casey Stoner in 2007 has a Bologna rider added their name to the premier class trophy, something the Italian marquee is keen to change.

“Obviously we won for the second consecutive year also the team title, for a third consecutive year the manufacturers title,” Ciabatti confirmed. “Everybody knows that we missed the rider title since 2007 and this is the closest we are to winning it since 15 years, which is a long time.

“So it’s very important for us, for the company, for Pecco, for everybody who’s been working. I think that there are no doubts about Ducati being the most competitive bike in MotoGP this year. We won seven plus four plus one makes 12 Grand Prix, I think is the best results ever in Ducati history, in MotoGP, so many pole position, so many podiums, and so many first rows, so that’s very good and it proves that the engineers back in Bologna have been working hard and doing a fantastic job. Now, we make what they say ‘the icing on the cake’, and we are very close to get it.”

While Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis alluded to the challenges of Valencia with reference to Nicky Hayden’s dramatic win over Valentino Rossi in the 2006 title fight, the Italian was less than