Ducati responded to criticism from its current rider, Enea Bastianini , who said the Borgo Panigale team was willing to let him and Jorge Martin go in order to get a contract with Marc Marquez in MotoGP 2025.
In the main race of the 2024 British MotoGP , Sunday (4/8/2024), Ducati completely dominated with five of its motorbikes in the top 5 positions.
In addition, the Silverstone Circuit was also a success for one of the riders who will leave the colors of the Italian brand, Enea Bastianini.
Bastianini took wins in the sprint race and the main race and moved up to third in the overall standings, with 192 points
Ducati general manager Luigi Dall’Igna spoke about the weekend and the Italian rider’s double win on SKY microphones.
Improvements to the GP24 and GP23 bikes have yielded good results
Dall’Igna acknowledged the improvements that have been made to GP24.
“We always try to solve the problems and I would say that we have managed to fix them,” Dall’Igna was quoted as saying by MotoSan.
“The GP24 has improved from the weak points of the GP23. We have seen it here, but also at other circuits. So I have to congratulate everyone at Ducati .”
Apart from the new Ducati version , the GP23 also occupies a prominent position on the grid.
“It all comes down to understanding the mechanisms and specific problems,” Dall’Igna said.
“When you understand certain things, it’s easy to implement solutions, and that’s what we tried to do on the GP23, even throughout the year.”
Bastianini then explained why Ducati was willing to let go of two great talents like himself and Martin to choose Marquez.
Martin moved to the Aprilia factory team, while Bastianini had to be willing to join the KTM satellite team.
When asked who would be worse off without either of them, Bastianini said it was safe to say either.
“We’ll see. I don’t understand Ducati’s choice because they have lost two riders like me and Jorge,” said Bastianini.
“But I respect this decision,” he said.
“About the KTM, I think it will be a good bike for me.”
“But I haven’t tried this bike and if you don’t try it, you can’t explain what its strongest point is compared to the Ducati,” he said.
However, Dall’Igna also took criticism and accepted it.
“I am of course happy with Enea’s (Bastianini) success. Unfortunately we had to choose one rider from three competitors and all three deserved the official colours,” said Dall’Igna.
“It was a difficult choice from both a human and a sporting point of view. I am also here to accept criticism, and I accept it.”
However, for the 58-year-old man it is important to live in the present.
“Every year is a new chapter. At the end of the year, we will close the 2024 chapter and open the 2025 chapter and everything will depend on the work of each company.”
“You never know what others might have in store for you. The most important thing is to survive this year and then think about the next one,” Dall’Igna said.
“I’m happy with the performance of the bike, we have been at a very good level for many years and I hope to continue like this.”