“By choosing Márquez, we knew that Martín could be champion”

Despite an eminently technical background, Gigi Dall'Igna's position as general manager of Ducati Corse means that his role is not limited to the design and development of the motorcycle which, every year, breaks records and wins the securities. His voice is also decisive in the choice of drivers, an area in which a major choice was made last year by opting for Marc Márquez and letting Jorge Martín go, although he was on course for the title.

After a record-breaking 2024 season for Ducati and before tackling this championship which promises to see the spotlight once again focused on the red stand, Gigi Dall'Igna exclusively answered questions from Motorsport.com. Here is the second part of this interview.

When we speak with engineers who were at Ducati five, six or seven years ago, they say that the level of technical briefings was already much higher than at other brands, and that the gap has grown further. How did this protocol come about, and why is it better?

I believe that the culture and general level of the entire team should be as high as possible. This is why I involve people who work on the electronics or the chassis in meetings on the engine, for example, precisely to make everyone understand what the problems related to the engine are. And the same goes for the chassis or the electronic part.

I try to expand the knowledge within the entire Ducati technical structure and, if possible, develop it. So I believe that this high level of meetings comes precisely from the fact that I want the culture on motorcycle technology to spread as much as possible within the competition department.

Fabio Sterlacchini left, then Max Bartolini, and Ducati continued to win just as much, if not more. How is Ducati immune to these departures?

By increasing this level of culture [technique] motorcycle, we always have people behind who are learning and who can replace those above them. There is always a replacement at Ducati. We are the only ones who have never signed someone from another brand, but you have always developed the engineers that we then see at the circuit.

At what point did you think it was a good idea to allow an independent team to compete with the same tools as the factory team?

This has always been my philosophy: I believe that giving Ducati riders the best possible equipment also improves the general level of the organization, and the factory team also benefits. If one driver is faster, the others will follow.

Was it easy to convince the Ducati sales department to let an independent team win?

It's always complicated, because there is always one team more important than the others, and it is obvious that the official team is more important than the satellite teams because the sponsors pay and support us a lot so that their brand is associated with ours. But if you look closely, victories serve everyone. What matters for brands is to be competitive over time and I believe that all our partners can be satisfied because for the fourth year in a row, we were the team that fought for the title. All the brands that trusted us obtained the visibility they were looking for.

Is it unfair to think that Ducati made a mistake to bet on Marc Márquez for 2025 since the title went to Jorge Martín?

That was one of the possibilities when we made the decision and we took it into account. It was very simple: we would have liked to keep all three pilots but the system posed so many obstacles that in the end, it was impossible to keep all three, and when we could only decide on two Between them, we opted for Pecco and Marc. But when we made this choice, we already knew that Martín could become world champion.

Was it difficult to bet on Márquez when he had not yet won a race on the Ducati?

We are all human, and so are pilots. It is important to project the possible progress in a pilot to try to know if it will be better or worse than the other solution available. It's not an easy decision, it's not a simple simulation to do, but it's our job. Sometimes we make the right choice, sometimes the wrong one, because we are human too.

Does losing #1 matter?

The number 1 is just a number. What matters is that Martín won his title on a Ducati.

How do you plan to get Márquez and Bagnaia to think about the collective in the guidance they give on the development of the bike?

I always have a lot of consideration for what the riders say, but it's up to the engineers, not the riders, to decide what to do or not do on the bike. By watching the telemetry and listening to driver feedback, they decide which setup to use in the race. In the past, we have already made different choices between one driver and another. We will always try to determine the advantages and disadvantages of one solution or another, to find the right balance.