Gigi Dall’Igna | Photo credits: Otocredits
At the recent MotoGP Sepang test session, Ducati showed on the final day that they’re a step ahead of their main rivals Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. The Italian manufacturer was able to close the test with Danilo Petrucci lapping Sepang below the circuit lap record of Jorge Lorenzo, and no less than four Ducati closed the test with the four fastest times.
But these results don’t seem to cause much impact on Ducati Corse strategy for this season, and Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati Corse manager, says that they need to work more to be able to beat their rivals when the season starts in Qatar, on March 10
“I’m very happy with the results. But Marquez wasn’t at 100%, Lorenzo wasn’t here, Cal Crutchlow is injured… We need to put this test into a specific perspective. We have four bikes on the top four positions, but that wasn’t the goal of the test. We are happy with some parts that we’ve tested, but not with all the parts. We need to analyze the telemetry to understand why some parts didn’t work, because I believe we need to work more than what we’ve done until now. I’m very happy, but I know we need to work harder”.
Gigi Dall’Igna is also a very happy man with the results obtained by MotoGP rookie and Moto2 champion Francesco Bagnaia. The young Italian talent, raised inside the VR46 Riders Academy, had a blistering start to his MotoGP career with the Alma Pramac Ducati bike, ending the Sepang test with the second fastest time.
For Dall’Igna, “I’m happy for the results, first for the lap times he managed to obtain, and second because he didn’t suffer any crash. He is doing a great job, step by step, and I think this will bring results to us in the future”.
Will anyone be able to take the fight to Ducati when the season starts?
Next February 23 to 25th MotoGP riders will return to action for the second official test session of the season, in Qatar. There, all the manufacturers will have their new upgrades available, and that’s where we hope to get a better idea of who’s stonger.