Ducati is no longer counting its successes, which continue to accumulate without really leaving any room for competition. The brand is also not concerned about its ability to win the title, the four drivers still mathematically in the running are all from the house. And the triple crown will also be a formality: the manufacturers’ title has already been acquired and that of the teams is now being played out between three teams supplied by the brand.
No, it’s not the fact that Ducati wins that interests us today, it’s the overwhelming way in which the manufacturer does it. The Japanese GP leaves behind exceptional figures: a broken record time of 0.737 in the race and a total time for the Grand Prix lowered by 11 and a half seconds while the reference dated ten years ago.
To find the Ducatis in the rankings, just look at the top: the sprint ended with seven Ducatis in the lead and there were seven on Sunday in the top 8 with Binder’s KTM as the only intruder, as had been that of Acosta here and there during the weekend, in pole position then briefly at the head of the race. “Whatever the outcome, I believe that Ducati will come out well in many aspects. Especially from a sporting point of view, which is perhaps the least obvious,” reacts to this Gigi Dall’Igna in the columns of La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The general director of Ducati Corse responds to those who argue that Ducati will not win Jorge Martín, today at the head of the championship but not representing the factory team. “Perhaps they have never looked at my career. It is a sport and it is right that it remains that way. For me, it is the best who must win”, Dall’Igna retorts.
A chassis ruled out for the end of the season
“I believe it is significant that we have no longer made any technical innovations, avoiding one being treated better than the other,” adds the Italian manager, referring here to the chassis tested in Misano and which pleased Pecco Bagnaia so much. As Ducati does not have the means to produce one for the four riders with the 2024 version of the Desmosedici, the part remains aside for the moment.
“It’s something that we can’t have because it’s an evolution that should be given to all drivers who have the GP24,” underlined Bagnaia on Sunday when he came down from the Motegi podium, “But we can’t, because it’s not ready. The bike therefore remains unchanged. It’s a shame because it’s a good step forward which could help me make the difference, but Ducati has always been clear at all levels and the bikes will remain equal until the end.”
Gigi Dall’Igna, general manager of Ducati Corse.
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Others could perhaps have made different choices,” points out Dall’Igna on this subject, proud of this fairness that he intends to defend between his drivers, whether they race for the official team or not.
Moreover, if it matches “totally” with the comparison which is starting to be made with the Rossi-Lorenzo duel of yesteryear, experienced in pain internally at Yamaha, the boss of Ducati Corse underlines the current good understanding between the two leaders: “The big difference is that the management of the riders is completely different. At the time, there was a wall, whereas today there is total sharing of data and work by Ducati in order to also support Martín. Many of the Pramac team engineers are also Ducati engineers. And the work we do behind the scenes is exactly the same for Pecco and for Jorge.
Their fight in the championship may be intense, and even if they have very rarely had the opportunity to cross swords on the track since they reached the same level of performance, Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín are very far from the toxic competition that prevailed among their elders 15 years ago. And in this too, Gigi Dall’Igna takes a certain pride: “In the two years they’ve been fighting, I haven’t seen a single mistake between them. And I don’t expect to see any by the end. I’ll do everything to make sure that be the case.”
