MotoGP | Domenicali: “Marquez's performances must be compared to the GP23s”

The American MotoGP trip certainly gave some interesting ideas. The first is that Ducati is not unbeatable, because in Austin we witnessed an Aprilia double with Maverick Vinales, who interrupted the Borgo Panigale manufacturer's streak of consecutive victories at 11 (in terms of long races), which therefore failed to match Honda's historic record of 12.

In Texas then all eyes were on Marc Marquez, because he was arriving on a track where he had won seven times in the past with the Honda and therefore everyone wanted to see what he would be capable of on the Ducati. In the Sprint he achieved a second place which copied that of Portimao, while in the long race he was forced to retire due to a fall, which however occurred when he was in the lead and due to a problem with the front brake.

According to the CEO of the Rossa, Claudio Domenicali, who granted an interview to GPOne colleagues on the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition “Forma-Feelings designed by Ducati in Borgo Panigale”the performances of the eight-time world champion should not be evaluated in general terms, but by comparing them to those of the other riders who, like him, have a Desmosedici GP23 from last year.

“Marc has shown that he is still in great shape and he made a mistake. However, we must interpret the fact that he races with a GP23 and his performances must be compared to those who have the same bike as him. To date, between the GP23 and GP24 there “It's a little more different than in the past”, said Domenicali, pointing out that in fact at the moment the Spaniard was the only one capable of putting himself at the top with the 2023 bike, while his brother Alex, Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio are struggling.

“Having said that, Marc had an excellent race. He's putting himself out there and perhaps it was more comfortable to stay where he was. He risked a lot of his own in making this choice and from a sporting point of view I think it's appreciable. In Austin he was doing a great performance, in fact he fell first. In the end this is the world of racing and we are happy to have him with us”, he added on #93.

As regards the overall result achieved by Ducati, which in the American Grand Prix had to settle for third place for Enea Bastianini, fourth for Jorge Martin and fifth for Pecco Bagnaia, Domenicali seems to have taken the matter quite philosophically, although also reserving a small aside for Aprilia and KTM.

“The race was very good, even if we didn't do the best we could have done. The championship is long and in any case there were three Ducatis in the first five places. Obviously we can't win all the races, because then the journalists will They complain that the championship is a single-make championship (smiles), but I would like to point out that this year Ducati is racing with a handicap and I think it's interesting to do so in the face of a race like Sunday's.”

And the reference was quite evident: “The body that regulates the World Championship has issued a series of concessions, which have offered advantages to everyone except Ducati, allowing our opponents to make wild cards in which they will be able to develop the bike. Furthermore, at Ducati, the number of tires was limited, while other manufacturers, who did not know how to manage their development processes well, were given large concessions. Let's say that we are racing with a backpack on our shoulders, which we certainly don't do run faster than before. We accepted this, aware of the limits applied.”

Watch: MotoGP Video | American Grand Prix