Dall'Igna: “Ducati didn’t want Marquez. The concessions? I don’t understand them”

There’s no denying that Ducati is the manufacturer of the moment, considering that, beyond the MotoGP title with Francesco Bagnaia, they have triumphed across the board for a second consecutive year. After an intense Valencia GP and with testing already underway at the same time, Ducati Corse General Manager Luigi Dall'Igna has spoken about many of the current hot topics. From Marc Marquez’s arrival to the new regulation, and the tyre situation: here’s what he has to say.

“I want to thank our riders for the incredible work they themselves have done, as well as those working in the Racing Department”, he begins. “Our bike already had an excellent base, but we’ve been able to further improve it and this makes me very proud, because we reacted fast when our rivals began to move in on us”.

Dall'Igna: “Marquez? I’m curious to hear what he’ll say”

All eyes are understandably on Marc Marquez right now: “Ducati didn’t want Marquez, but now that he’s about to race with one of our bikes, I’m very curious to hear what he’ll say, considering that he’s one of the most important riders in motorcycling history. I hope that the harmony for which our teams stand out and that allows them to be successful continues with Marc on board, but I’m sure he’ll get on well with the bike with his riding style, also considering that nearly all the riders have won at least one race with the Desmosedici”.

“I don’t think Marc’s presence will change anything from Bagnaia’s standpoint”, continues the Ducati Corse General Manager. “He’s a great champion who has just won his second MotoGP title, so he’ll continue to follow his path. Marquez will be tough adversary in the fight for the title, but we’re talking about two of the best riders currently on the grid.”

“It’s only right to help those in difficulty, but not Aprilia and KTM”

2024 will also bring changes to the regulation, although Dall'Igna is not entirely in agreement: “In terms of the new concessions, I’m in favour of helping the manufacturers most in difficulty, seeing as they can add to the spectacle of the championship if they are more competitive, but that would be Yamaha and Honda. I don’t understand the decision to give them also to Aprilia and KTM, considering that they are two winning bikes that have battled at the front almost all year long.”

“I really hope we don’t end up with a situation like that in Superbike, where they’ve even limited our performance to favour the others”, he comments. “But there we’re talking production-derived bikes, while here everybody starts from scratch to build a prototype. It would be absurd and against nature to castrate us, so to speak, in MotoGP too.”

“Martin? Titles are lost as a result of mistakes, not tyres”

“Looking at the regulation, what worries me most is the quantity of tyres we’ll have for the tests. This will penalise because we’ll be very limited in terms of mileage, and it won’t be easy to develop the bike, especially in the medium-long term”, concludes Luigi, before touching on 2023 once again and underlining that it is not only tyres that influenced Jorge Martin’s second place finish. “I want to point out that it’s not easy to produce tyres that are all identical, but at the same time I’m sure that a championship is not lost as a result of this, rather it’s down to errors made throughout the course of the season, as was the case for a nevertheless very strong Martin”.