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Gigi Dall'Igna can undoubtedly enjoy a start to the season that's nothing short of triumphant. Marc Marquez's domination in Buriram was confirmed in Termas de Rio Hondo, with the podium that has, until now, been monopolized by Borgo Panigale bikes. Instead, the only slightly worrisome element involves Pecco Bagnaia. For now, he's not responding to the performance of the Marquez brothers, Marc and Alex.
Pecco hasn't yet squared the circle on the Ducati GP24.9 (this is how the current Team Factory bike is defined), and Dall'Igna knows that his performance in the first two GPs isn't what was expected. During the presentation for the Ducati Panigale V4 Italia, our distinguished Paolo Scalera exchanged a few words with Dall'Igna about these and many other topics.
In the first two GPs, we saw you celebrating, but not that much.
"Let's say that there's a part of the team celebrating; a part of the team that has to work a bit. That's kind of my job. I'm always where the problems are. So I also try to help, even just a bit, those who are most in trouble, to do the best they can."
Can you explain the famous scene that happened in Buriram with Bagnaia. Did you then talk about it?
"We always talk after the races. Consider that I always prefer to wait a bit after the end of the race to analyze the problems there were during the race, and also really understand well, from the rider, the kind of issue he had during the race. It's normal to do a debriefing with the riders. Normally, it's done without haste, after the race and, especially, we usually do it along with all the technicians who are then able to make the decisions to change the state of things."
But were there problems, or could you rule out that there were problems?
"Let's say ... problems. I'd say definitely not. As always, there are if you get to the end of the race with a destroyed tire, especially in situations like Buriram, where the conditions were really very unusual. But, obviously, that was the case for everyone. However, there are always very small things that can make a difference."
We have to figure out if Pernat lost another dinner. Was Marc Marquez's GP23 different than the others?
"No. Ducati's policy is to give exactly the same material to all the riders. We've proven it many times and, even last year, just with Martin and Pecco. Marc didn't have different parts than the others. He had exactly the same bike as the others."
What can we expect now from the next races? Austin is another hunting ground for Marquez. How is Bagnaia taking it?
"He's clearly taking it very seriously and trying to find solutions. He's doing it, and we're doing it, because he definitely needs to go faster. Third place is definitely not Pecco's position. He can and must do more. Our goal is to try to get him to express himself at his best."
