Motorcycle Racing

MotoGP concessions allow rivals to make mistakes Ducati can’t

Gigi Dall'Igna, Ducati Corse General Manager

On the 10th anniversary of his arrival at the Bolognese company, the engineer has been accumulating influence, in his team and in the championship, to the point of being seen by many as the Adrian Newey of MotoGP.

After breaking most records last season, Ducati will face 2024 in full strength and with the extra asset of Marc Marquez, who has given up the last year of the multi-million-dollar contract that linked him to Honda, to ride one of Dall’Igna’s bikes.

Dall’Igna spoke to Autosport just a week before the start of the Ducati presentation events for the new year, as it aims for its third-successive riders’ title and fourth in its history.

Q. Has this been the quietest Christmas of your life?

Gigi Dall’Igna: “Actually, I am a person who, when I stop working, I switch off. When I am with friends, I close the shutters and enjoy them. It has been a quiet Christmas, but so was last year.”

Q. Many people compare you to Adrian Newey, the head of Red Bull’s technical department in Formula 1, because of the influence you have in MotoGP. However, with your bikes it’s not just one rider who wins, but many. Does that put you on a higher plane?

GD: “That’s impossible. Newey is a legend. Just the fact that someone compares me to him is enough to satisfy me. But cars and motorbikes are two completely different universes.”

Q. Next year Marc Marquez, who many consider to be the Max Verstappen of MotoGP, arrives at Ducati. Don’t you think there is a risk that people will talk less about the bike and more about Marquez?

GD. “My goal is to win, and I have to try to make Ducati do it for as long as possible. That is the goal in my job. I am not egocentric in that sense. I don’t see only Ducati winning, but winning together with the rider and the team. We are a team. I have never considered whether the rider or the bike is more important. The only thing that counts is that, at the end of the season, whoever wins the most important title will be on a Ducati.”

Q. And wouldn’t it be easier if riders of the same brand followed a set of established orders?

GD: “This is a sport, which means we have to act in a sporting way and we can’t play dirty. This is the basis of my philosophy. To play dirty would be to limit the performance of a bike to prevent a rider from winning. Jorge Martin had all the cards to fight for the title last year, right to the end. No strange moves. That’s playing fair, playing the sport correctly.”

Photo by: Gold…

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