“Ducati win, regulations are wrong. Someone else wins, regulations are right!”
Concessions a🍨re set to play a 𝔍key role in the 2024 MotoGP season
Gigi Dall’Igna has issued a strong ෴dismissal of the 🉐new MotoGP concessions rules.
As the premier class’ dominant team, Ducati will be hit hardest by the tweaked reg✤ulations but they are aggrieved that KTM and Aprilia will receive benefits, in addition to Honda and Yama🍷ha who the new rule was initially intended for.
Ducati’s inspirational engineer has hit out at the rule�🐽�s again.
"Let's say that we don't want to talk much about the concessions and some of their points,” he toღld Marc🐓a.
“We were willing to sign t🐷he first proposal that Dorna gave us, which, fundamentally, only gave aid to Honda and 🍬Yamaha.
“It wasཧ reasonable, for🍸 us, it was a balanced proposal, so we would have signed it instantly.
“On the other hand, other manufacturers took advantage of the opportunity to take advantage for themselves or tr🥃y to disadvant💦age us.
“We liked this much less.
“We tried to resist, buꦡt out of the cౠommitment of wanting to look good to everyone we had to be content with this.
“It is clear that both in MotoGP and in Superbike... it seems that when Ducati wins 💧the regulation is wrong and when someone else wins, the regulation is right.
“It is something difficult, but it annoys y🅠ou a lot.
“In World Superbikes, the only one pena💟lised i🎐s Alvaro Bautista.
“Other years, when a rider won successivelꩵy, no one said: 'You win because of this...'. He didn't win because he was good?
“We lowered our heads and worked until✤ it came to us.
“And making a motorcycle from scratch, because the V4 is completely different from its predecessor and it was a risk to wiཧn the first year.
“The others, with old motorcycles from ten years ago, ♕were there.
“We in Superbikes already agreed to giveꦰ ♑super concessions to the teams that had old bikes and were struggling in development.
“So we are𒅌 not against helping those who have difficulties.
“Maybe 🅰one day we will be the ones who have difficulties, but punishing those who work well does not seem very sporting.”
Ducati must aim to win the MotoGP champions♈hip for the third year running despite the concessions rules.
They are not permitted any wildcard riders, they must us🤪e only 170 test tyres (the fewest of any manufacturer), they have a maximum of eight engines all year with a developmental freeze, and a single aerodynamic update.
They will retain the advantage of running eight bikes on the grid, compared to﷽ four for Honda, KTM and Aprilia, and just two for Yamaha.
And their Desmosedici - the brainchild of Dall’Igna - has been 🌞tested in Sepang. Enea Bastianini went fastest on the second day of the test, and Francesco Bagnaia did so on the 💝third day. They fed back that the ‘24 bike is better than the ‘23 version.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a dec𝐆ade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
