Claudio Domenicali could not miss Valencia. The CEO of Ducati Corse is always there in important moments. And what could be more important than two riders of the brand competing for the MotoGP title at the last race?
In the end it was the standard bearer of the official team Pecco Bagnaia who prevailed, who won the Grand Prix of the Valencian Community while his rival Jorge Martin, bearer of Prima Pramac Racing, finished his race well early due to a contact with Marc Marquez. The engineer from Bologna underlined the great season of both, but praised the Italian’s achievement, given that confirming themselves as champions is something that only legends managed in the era of four-stroke motorbikes.
“Only the greats have succeeded in recent times. Only Valentino and Marquez have repeated themselves. He had the courage to take number 1 and won with that. It was a crazy season, which saw a fantastic duel between Pecco and Jorge. Jorge was also very good and I think he deserves big applause for keeping the championship open until the last moment. Pecco, however, was better and today was crazy. He started strong and managed to put pressure on Jorge , somehow pushed him to make mistakes, so Pecco is great,” Domenicali told Sky Sport MotoGP.
Martin’s ride confirmed the excellent technical level that the Borgo Panigale manufacturer is capable of guaranteeing to its satellite teams as well. One of Ducati’s strong points, which however theoretically makes everything more complicated for the riders of the official team. But when dealing with this topic, Domenicali also launched a dig linked to the imminent return of concessions in MotoGP, which should favor the Japanese brands.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
“I believe that this gives even more value to Pecco’s title, because he fought with riders who were on equal terms like Jorge and with others like Bezzecchi or Di Giannantonio who had a really close bike. Pecco was better and therefore if he it deserves it. But it’s a bit like our philosophy, which perhaps makes it more difficult to win with the official team, but makes us grow more, because we share data.”
“It’s clear that it’s risky, but the final objective is for Ducati to win and it makes it even more difficult for the other manufacturers to chase. What we’re a little sorry about is that this great work we’ve done is being put a little in the way. shadowed by a change of rules, which will penalize us a little and give an advantage to others. It’s not exactly a perfect thing, but let’s say that the better you are, the more you are penalized.”
When he was then asked if he would be willing to sign Bagnaia practically for life, his answer was very pragmatic, but sensible: “I think it wouldn’t be right both for the company and for him. This is a very competitive sport , in which things change rapidly. Both we and the athletes have to be kept under pressure in some way. I think it wouldn’t be good for either side.”
From tomorrow it will already be time to turn the page, however, because on Tuesday there will still be the first test in Valencia in view of next season: “2024 will be a complicated year for us, because Pecco will not only have to deal with Jorge, but also with the various Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio, then there is also Marc Marquez who arrives and will be very strong straight away. But it will also be very complicated for the others to try to beat the Ducati. There will be great interest in MotoGP, because I think everyone will want to see what Marc will do with our bike, even if I think it will be very fast straight away.”
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