MotoGp, Dall'Igna: "We would have liked to keep all the riders, but it was not possible"

Bologna, 29 December 2024 – Ducati had to make a choice, a painful one, which probably went to strengthen other brands, but necessary with six bikes on the track and Campinoti's choice to switch to Yamaha . Dall'Igna opted for Marc Marquez for the official team alongside Pecco bagnaia, so the world champion Jorge Martin decided for Aprilia, eager to try his hand at an official team. Ducati was aware of the risk, tried to keep all the riders, but the current situation did not allow it. The dream pair is thus composed of Marquez and Bagnaia, with high chances of winning the world championship, but the exit from the scene of Martin, Bezzecchi and Bastianini It can give Aprilia and KTM material to recover (even if the Austrians are engulfed by the crisis of their parent company).

Dall'Igna: "We would have liked to keep everyone"

It was not an easy situation for Ducati, but in the end the data prevailed, namely Marc's great performances. Marquez with the 2023 bike, essentially the only one capable of keeping up with the pace of the official 2024 bikes. Martin he became world champion with an updated Desmosedici, and losing him is a problem, but the eight-time world champion represents an absolute guarantee for Borgo Panigale, which is a candidate to dominate in 2025 too, albeit with two less bikes. Dall'Igna, a supporter of the choice, was aware of the possibility that Jorge could win the world championship and then leave Ducati: "We would have liked to keep all the riders - Dall'Igna told motorsport.com - But we found obstacles and we had to make a decision. In any case, Martin won the world championship with a Ducati". During the period of the official decision, the engineer was perfectly aware of the risk of losing the champion: "When we decided to have Marquez on the official bike we knew perfectly well that Martin could win the world championship", was the response of Dall'Igna. There was also a purely technical reasoning. Marc's performances and data Marquez with the old bike they convinced Dall'Igna, the Spaniard's talent is still there after the bad years in Honda. The Gp23 was decidedly inferior to the Gp24, but Marquez dragged it to the podium and to victory several times, convincing the Ducati top brass to bet on him: "Our job is to evaluate and project growth to understand if one option will be better than the other. It's certainly not an easy job and sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don't. We are human". The results and performances will certify the goodness of the decision or not. For sure, the team will have to find a balance between the two roosters in the henhouse. Marquez arrives to win his ninth title and equal Rossi, bagnaia instead he wants to return to the top of the world after the defeat with Martin. First results in February with the tests in Thailand and Malaysia, then from 28 to 2 the first GP of the 2025 season in Buriram.

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