MotoGP, Dall’Igna: “A true champion has charisma and motivates the entire company”

During his long career, Gigi Dall’Igna has worked with many riders and he also discovered many. In recent years in Ducati, the policy of focusing on young people has borne its fruit and, now, in every race weekend, Gigi goes from pits to garages to follow all the 8 riders who ride “his” Desmosedici. The Venetian engineer not only knows the technique well, but also the men who work with him, and he’s very clear about the qualities they must have.

“To win a World Championship, you have to be fast, smart, capable of  managing races and not take risks, but not too much,” these are the attributes he listed in an interview with Speedweek.

But there’s another characteristic he deems very important: “True champions have charisma. A rider sometimes makes the mistake of thinking that his team is made up of only the seven elements that work in his garage, but that’s not the case,” he stressed. “The rider is one of the one hundred employees in Ducati Corse, which is his team, and he must motivate everyone. He has to have a positive attitude because people need it. He has to remember that everyone works for him.”

Dall’Igna didn’t want to reveal who set his sights on the future, but the lower classes are the first testing ground.

“I usually look at the riders from Moto3 onward,” he continued. “Bastianini had fantastic races in that class, as did Bagnaia, who rode the Mahindra. Not the best bike of the lot. But he kept trying, he won. He didn’t look for excuses, and he only did his best. This is one of the most important characteristics of a rider.”

Gigi both won and lost in his career, but he has no regrets.

“I've never regretted choosing a rider, because I learned something from each one,” he concluded.