“Ducati win, regulations are wrong. Someone else wins, regulations are right!”
Concessions are set to 🌃play a key role in the 2024 MotoGP season
Gigi Dall’Igna has issued a strong dis💖missal of the new MotoGP concessions rules.
As the premier class’ dominant team, Ducati will be hit hardest by the tweaked regulations but they are aggrieved that KTM and Aprilia will receive benefits, in ad𒈔dition to Honda and Yamaha who the new rule was initially intended for.
Duca🌊ti’s inspirational engineer has hit out at the rules again.
"Let's say that we don't want to talk much aboꦫut the concessions and some of their points,” he told Marca.
“We were willing to sign the first🍌 proposal that Dorna gave us, which, fundamentally, only gave aid to Honda and Yamaha.
“It was reasonable, for us, it was a balanced proposal, so we would have signed it i🐈nstantly.
“On the other hand, other manufacturer๊s took advantage of the ꦦopportunity to take advantage for themselves or try to disadvantage us.
“We liked this much less.
“We tried to resist, but out of the commitment of wanting to ⛎look good to everyone we had to be content with this.
“It🌺 is clear that both in MotoGP and in Superbike... it seems that when Ducati wins the regulation is wrong and when someone else wins, the regulation is right.
“It is someth🎐ing difficult, but it annoys you a lot.
“Inꦉ World Superbikes, the only one penalised is Alvaro Bautista.
“Other years, when a rider won successively, no one said: 'You win bec💎ause of ♕this...'. He didn't win because he was good?
“We♍ lowered our heads and worked until it came to us.
“And making ꧑a motorcycle from scratch, because the V4 is completely different from its predecessor and it was a risk to win the first year.
🍬“The others, with old motorcycles from ten years ago, were there.
ꦓ“We in Superbikes already agreed to give super concessions to the teams that had old bikes and were struggling in development.
“Soꦆ we are not against helping those who have difficulties.
“Maybe one day we will be the ones who have difficulties, but punishing those who work wel☂l does not seem very sporting.”
Ducati must aim to win the Mo𒁃toGP championship for th🍨e third year running despite the concessions rules.
They are not permitted any wildcard riders, they must use only 170 test tyres (the fewest of any manufacturer), they have a maximum of eight engines all year with a develoܫpmental freeze, and a single aerodynamic update.
They will retain the advantage of running eight bikes on the grid, compared to four for Honda, KTM and Aprilia, and j🅘𓆉ust two for Yamaha.
And their Desmosedici - the brainchild of Dall’Igna - has been tested in Sepang. Enea Bastianini went fastes🍬t on the second day of the test, and Francesco Bagnaia did so on the third day. They fed back that the ‘24 bik✃e is better than the ‘23 version.
James was a sports♎ journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sport𓆏s, to football, to F1.
