MotoGP | Dall'Igna: “Made an important step forward on the engine”

Improving a bike that dominates a difficult class like MotoGP seems like a near-impossible undertaking from year to year, but Ducati Corse worked hard over the winter to prepare an even more high-performance Desmosedici GP24 to maintain its lead in performance and in reliability.

Today the new MotoGP red bike was presented in Madonna di Campiglio, in an event completely dedicated to the Borgo Panigale racing department with the veils dropped from the bikes of the premier class of the MotoGP, from the Superbikes and from the new weapons with which Ducati will try to break through even in the Cross.

The eyes, however, were more focused on the Desmosedici GP. Gigi Dall'Igna, general director of Ducati Corse, explained the work done by the Bolognese company during the last months of 2023 and the winter to create an even more competitive and reliable motorcycle.

The engine underwent work to make it more powerful, but without losing the driveability that allowed Bagnaia to bring home 2 Drivers' World Championship titles in a row. From the Piedmontese's comments after the Valencia tests, the objective seems to have been achieved and Dall'Igna himself wanted to explain where Ducati intervened.

“We focused on more long-term things,” said the engineer from Veneto during the presentation. “For example, the engine will be frozen, so it is important to make the right choices. It is important that the driveability of the engine is good, the power is the right one and the reliability is at the level needed to complete the entire championship with the 8 engines that we have available.”

“We have really grown a lot from the power point of view. In recent years, however, we have struggled to increase engine performance. This year I think we have taken a small step, but an important step forward. Pecco has felt. At the same time, the driveability of the engine remained that of the previous engine and this is not something to be taken for granted. This is why at the end of the test Francesco was very happy.”

“The start of the season and the championship is always the most difficult because the parts to assemble the new bikes have to arrive. We have a lot of bikes on the track and it's certainly more difficult for us than for others. Then of course, you know what you've done, what new things you've produced, but you never know what the others have managed to do. It's always a moment of great tension and we always experience the first test with great tension. There's always great adrenaline.”

Dall'Igna also revealed that Ducati will bring rather visible innovations to the Sepang tests, therefore linked to the fairing and, consequently, to the aerodynamics of the new bike.

“We are happy with what we did during the winter. In the Sepang tests we will bring a fairing that is visually very different from the one we have used in recent years. Here too, on paper everything is nice and easy, but in Sepang there will be opinions of the drivers. At that point we will understand whether the ideas that are very beautiful on paper will actually be beautiful on the track or not.”

“Everything we are able to achieve is thanks to a fantastic group, a fantastic family. I always say that our bikes are beautiful because they have within them the heart, the passion and the effort of people who are at home and really make incredible sacrifices to be able to give our riders high-performance and reliable bikes. I don't miss the opportunity to thank the people who work and who make Ducati so special”, concluded the general director of Ducati Corse.