“We are working to be able to continue in the current situation, with four teams and eight riders. And I don’t want to hear any more complaints about unfair competition: the rules apply to everyone.”
June 2, 2023
n an interview granted to Speedweek.com, the Ducati Corse general manager assures that the current line-up is the one he would like to keep in 2024 as well. And that bringing eight bikes to the track is something that the competitors could (and could have) done too.
“This is a good situation for us in terms of budget and certainly also in terms of sporting aspects. Why last year Bastianini was with Gresini, he won four races and finished third in the championship. Then we brought him to the Ducati team ”.
Gigi no longer wants to hear the complaints of those who claim that it is about unfair competition: it is true that Ducati has twice as many bikes as Honda, KTM and Aprilia and quadruple as Yamaha, but…
“But the rules are the same for all producers. Others can copy our strategy at any timeif they wish.”
Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti revealed at Le Mans that Borgo Panigale would like to continue with Lenovo and Pramac in 2024 with the same four riders. So with Bagnaia and Bastianini in the internal team and the Pramac duo formed by Martin and Zarco.
“We are still at the beginning of the season – Dall’Igna specified – e we still don’t know exactly what will be the best solution for Ducati in 2024. I’m happy with the performance of our riders, yes, all of them are very fast and the average level of performance is really very high. This makes us very happy, but we still need to clarify which driver combinations will make the most sense for us going into 2024.”
The Speedweek reporter suggests that Bezzecchi claims a place in Pramac and Jorge Martin is on the wish list in Yamaha. And even there “Bez” would be welcome as a teammate of Quartararo.
But then he adds that the Spaniard has already said he feels comfortable in Pramac and that Marco also wants to continue riding a Ducati. And no wonder, given the Yamaha M1’s dismal performance.
“In the end, the riders have to ride the make they want – concludes Dall’Igna – and they must take the path they deem best. I would like to continue with Jorge Martin because he is definitely a very good driver and he is a very nice guy. Working with him is excellent, all the Ducati technicians praise him and get along very well with him. Of course, the contracts that the riders sign are important. But I’m sure of one thing: riders always want to ride the best bike”.
