T💯he form showed by Ducati’s riders is a stark warning for their rivals, insists Simon Crafar.

Francesco Bagnaia went fastest on both days of the Qatar preseason t𝓡est. He has broken lap records in Sepang and Qatar this year already.

Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin were second-fastest on🎀 each day, an ominous sight as the season prepares to get underway.

“I would say it’s g🅰one pretty muc⛄h perfect, from their point of view,” ex-racer Crafar reported about Ducati.

“I ha💦d a catch-upܫ with Davide Tardozzi and it wasn’t necessary because, you could see, they are right on target.

“Everything they have tested has worked.

“It might hav💧e taken a little bit of working out. The electronics settings, the new engine…

“The new engine, the new aero, the new exhaust are all on there. Pecco did [hi🤪s lap record] and the whole paddock went ‘wow!’

“It w🐼as sixth tenths faster than anyone at the time.

“A lot of𝓰 people got their🅘 head down to try to close that gap.

“Both the GP23 h🐈ave had really good feedback from the riders on them.

“They’ve made good headway. They are comfortable.

“The GP24s are all happy. They’re saying ‘a little bit more rear grip’ when ꧃everyone🍰 else says the opposite.”

Factory riders Bagnaia and Bastianini, plus Pramac’s Martin and Franco Morbidelli (who has missed preseason due to injury) will ri🐽de GP24s this year.

Gresini’s Marc and Alex Marquez, and VR46’s Fabio d𒐪i Giannantonio and Marco🐼 Bezzecchi, will ride the year-old bike.

“Ducati look really dangerous,” Crafar insisted.

“Tardozzi said ‘everything is going well but we are keeping our feet on the floor because we go away, car racing i♚s going on here, we come back ⭕and track conditions will be different so we start from scratch again’.

“He’s a very expe🎶rienced man. He has won multiple world championships as a team manager. And he is right.

“They are in an awesome position.”

Bagnaia’s championship win in 2022 ended 15 years without winning for the ඣItal🐼ian manufacturer.

He then repeated the feat last year in aﷺ season dominated by Ducati, with three of their riders vying for the title.

The addition of M♋arquez to 🍌the troops is an additional difficulty for Aprilia, KTM, Honda and Yamaha to overcome.