After two difficult seasons on the Pramac team’s Ducati, Pecco Bagnaia moved to the factory team in 2021, where he competed in a championship full of successes. By winning four races, the Piedmontese was a protagonist in the fight for the title until the last stages of the season, finishing in second position 26 points behind the world champion Fabio Quartararo.
Bagnaia was just one of several riders who made Ducati history in 2021: teammate Jack Miller who won twice, the rookie Pramac’s Jorge Martin took a sensational victory at the Styrian Grand Prix, while rookie Avintia Enea Bastianini made it to the podium on two occasions in the GP19.
When Gigi Dall’Igna was asked who had surprised him the most during this season, he replied: “All the guys did a great job, that’s obvious. Martin took pole in his second MotoGP race, which is very difficult to do. He won a race in his first season, it’s not easy. But Pecco also did a great job, especially in the second half of the season, he was the best. He has won four of the last six races, which should have been five if he hadn’t crashed at Misano. It was on the podium in Austin. To be honest, Pecco is a rider who keeps improving every year and when you expect him to really reach his level, he takes another step ”.
“I don’t know who surprised me the most – he continues – Even Enea, who didn’t have an official bike, went fast. He had to use a GP19 because we couldn’t do anything else, even with that bike he was brilliant in certain moments like at Misano. What is particularly impressive is that he is very competitive in the latter part of the race, often running on the same times as the winner. He needs to improve on Friday and Saturday, but if he can start later I think he will be part of the match “.
Earlier this year, Ducati announced that it would be the sole motorcycle supplier for the MotoE World Cup, taking over from Energica from 2023. Commenting on this new adventure for Ducati, Dall’Igna says there are many things that are interesting from the point of view of an engineer and he is happy to be able to work on them: “This is new for us, but we must ensure that with Ducati Corse we bring a good bike to the track”.
“I think the electric motorcycle is a great challenge for an engineer, you can develop something in a completely different way. How are you going to get power from the battery, how are you going to recharge it … there are many things that are very interesting from an engineer point of view, I am looking forward to this challenge. I’m happy to be able to work on it, I prefer to start immediately ”.
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