MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Gigi Dall'Igna has done it at last. After nine seasons, the Italian engineer has achieved his dream, and done what Ducati hired him to do: win a MotoGP title. After 125 and 250 titles with Aprilia, he now has a MotoGP crown to add to his trophy cabinet.

Of course, it is Pecco Bagnaia who will actually hold the title. And it goes without saying that it was Bagnaia who did the hard work of winning out on track. Seven victories is the best total for a Ducati rider since Ducati's last world championship, Casey Stoner in 2007 (Stoner won 10 races), and the way he dominated the second half of the season was phenomenal. In the final ten races of 2022, Bagnaia was averaging 19 points a race, and missed out on the podium twice: a crash at Motegi, and that tense final race in Valencia.

But you can't overstate the role of Ducati and Gigi Dall'Igna in Bagnaia's championship. Bagnaia was on what is without a doubt the best bike on the grid, in almost every respect. When the Ducati riders needed to battle, they had the tools to fight: the Desmosedici could brake late and hard, and had the drive and acceleration to make the most of turning every corner into a V. It had the top speed to catch and pass pretty much every other bike on the grid. And it turned well enough to be able to defend, and not lose too much in the corners.

The results bear this out. Ducatis took 15 of 20 pole positions this year. They took 12 of 20 victories. Three of the top five, and five of the top ten riders in the championship were on Ducatis. Ducati won the manufacturers crown by a margin of 192 points, with at least one Ducati finishing on the podium at every race. Yamaha, Aprilia, and KTM, who took second to fourth in the manufacturers standings, were covered by just 16 points.

The Ducati Lenovo Factory team won the team championship with an advantage of 117 points over the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team (mechanical issues for both Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales cost Aprilia second place in both the manufacturer and team championships). Prima Pramac Racing won the Independent Team championship, and were fourth overall, ahead of the factory squads of Yamaha, Suzuki, and Honda.

Ducati finally won the riders championship by sheer weight of numbers. With eight bikes on the grid, they could afford to gamble on young riders and give them space to develop. Pecco Bagnaia was signed very early – before the 2018 season had even started – but had the space to learn and grow in the Pramac squad. But if Bagnaia had failed, then Enea Bastianini is waiting in the wings, Marco Bezzecchi has shown he has a special touch, Jack Miller had a chance at the title, Johann Zarco might have been relieved of testing duties and allowed a chance to focus on the championship.

Ducati needed a fast rider, and found one in Pecco Bagnaia. But they also needed the bike to put that rider on, and that is where Gigi Dall'Igna has finally triumphed, nine years after he first appeared in a dark sweater with a tiny Ducati logo at the Valencia test. Back then, the Italian engineer outlined the challenges and problems he faced. He promised an organizational shakeup and rapid evolution of the bike. He also promised to bring Ducati a MotoGP title within a couple of years.

It has taken longer than that, but at last he has succeeded. Dall'Igna appointed Paolo Ciabatti as Sporting Director, brought Davide Tardozzi in as MotoGP team manager, and broke down internal barriers by rotating engineers between the Ducati Corse race department, the test team, and the factory MotoGP team. He worked even more closely with the Pramac squad, switching them to the Open Class to get to grips with the Magneti Marelli electronics, which would later become the spec ECU in MotoGP.

That latter move was a hint of the path Dall'Igna saw toward success for Ducati. While other factories looked down on the Open Class as an unnecessary grid filler, an idea forced on them by Dorna, Ducati saw an opportunity. That kind of unconventional and open-minded thinking is what helped Ducati find innovative solutions to the spec electronics, with a radical new approach to aerodynamics, and the introduction of ride-height devices. Love them or hate them, it's indisputable that they work.

When improving the bike proved to be a much slower process than he anticipated, Ducati turned to Jorge Lorenzo. Dall'Igna had worked with Lorenzo at Aprilia, and had a very high opinion of the Spaniard. Ducati threw money at the three-time MotoGP champion – a rumored €25 million over two years – but Ducati CEO lost patience with Lorenzo early in his second year at the factory.

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