Ducati controversy: “It's unsportsmanlike to punish those who win and work well”

Ducati doesn't fit

It is no mystery that the concessions in MotoGP were introduced not only to encourage and speed up the recovery of the teams in difficulty – namely Yamaha and Honda -, but also to penalize the dominant Ducati of 2023, with some exclusive bans.

And also in Superbikeswhere is the minimum combined weight motorcycle rider seems to have been introduced to ballast Alvaro Bautista, champion of the last two seasons with a small physique. Already during the presentation of the teams, the general director Luigi Dall'Igna had underlined his discontent on the issue, even better explained by Davide Barana – Ducati technical director – to the Spaniards of Brand.

Barana explains the Ducati point of view

Barana contested the decisions made in MotoGP: “They reduced our tires for testing. We will need to be more careful so as not to waste them, given that after a few laps we risk already being without them. For the cancellation of the wild cards they tell us that we have 8 bikes, but these bikes have to race and there is no time to do tests. Even then for Pirro, he is denied the satisfaction of racing, to feel like a real driver and not just a test driver.”

And not only that, Barana also tackles the issue of concessions head on: “We were ready to sign the first proposal Dorna made to us: it only gave aid to Honda and Yamaha. For us it was reasonable, then the other manufacturers took the opportunity to gain advantages and try to penalize us. We weren't happy about this, we tried to resist, but then, in order to live in peace, we gave the OK.”
The Ducati man is very tough: “Both in MotoGP and Superbike it is clear what happened, it seems that when Ducati wins the rules are wrong, while when someone else wins, the rules are right. In Superbike the only one penalized is Bautista. We are not against helping those in difficulty, because one day we may be the ones in difficulty. But punishing those who work well doesn't seem very sporting to us“, concluded Barana to Marca.