Gigi Dall’Igna admitted: Ducati were “never really in the race” at Silverstone

Luigi ‘Gigi’ Dall’Igna is well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of his MotoGP project. The General Manager of Ducati Corse regularly publishes his thoughts on the LinkedIn platform. The mastermind behind the team that has dominated the sport for years reflects in great detail on the performances of the Ducati MotoGP riders.

It came as no surprise that the Corse boss’s report following the trip to England was less effusive than the one after the Sachsenring. The performances varied too widely, particularly among the world champion. But overall, from Ducati’s perspective, the Silverstone GP was more than disappointing. The reality: not a single Ducati rider managed to muster the pace needed to secure a place on the front row of the grid, and the picture did not change in either of the two races. In the end, Marc Marquez’s sprint could only be described as a ‘debacle’. ‘MM93’ finished the Grand Prix in 7th place, behind three Aprilias, two Ducatis and the KTM ridden by Pedro Acosta.

Dall'Igna zur Marquez-Rennen: Das Gegenteil vom Sachsenring

Foto: Gold and Goose

Dall’Igna: “Marc was never able to keep up with the pace of the frontrunners, regardless of his unfortunate qualifying session, which was hampered by a yellow flag during his final attempt. For very specific reasons, our result was completely different from the recent one in Germany. In fact, it was exactly the opposite.”

As predicted by the world champion

The Italian went on to write: “Marc himself had warned that it would be a tough race, and that’s exactly how it turned out. He got off to a strong start and held onto a podium position for as long as possible before gradually dropping back through the field, but he kept fighting – without taking any unnecessary risks.”

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Vollausfall in England: Pecco Bagnaia

Foto: Gold and Goose

There was very little discussion of his team-mate Pecco Bagnaia. The Ducati MotoGP rider, who remains by far the most successful, “ended his outing – one best forgotten – with a crash”, although Dall’Igna emphasised that “the Silverstone circuit was certainly not ideal following his forearm operation”.

Alex Márquez was recognised as “the best Ducati rider on both Saturday and Sunday”. Gigi Dall’Igna also made a point of mentioning that “had it not been for a mistake midway through the race, he would probably have finished on the Grand Prix podium”.

Gresini-Ducati-Pilot Alex Marquez verfolgte Aprilia-Ass Bezzecchi

Foto: Gold and Goose

VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio picked up “valuable points as part of his outstanding season and in the context of a World Championship that remains completely open and unpredictable.”

At no point was the pace competitive

The team principal’s assessment was accordingly self-critical, yet remained free of frustration: “Ducati was never really in the race at Silverstone – an event that brought us abruptly back to the reality of a fiercely contested championship against strong and unyielding opponents, but which is not particularly worrying either. Silverstone has once again proved just how unpredictable this circuit is – with the twelfth different winner in as many races. From qualifying right through to the Grand Prix race, we never found a competitive pace for various reasons and we consistently lacked the right feel for the bike.”

Gigi Dall’Igna also appealed to the team: “The key now is to rediscover the momentum we had before the summer break, to put our hearts into it – and, as always, to give it our all.”

For Marc Márquez, Round 12 of the World Championship saw him drop back to fourth in the standings – with Marco Bezzecchi, of all people, overtaking him again on his comeback. From Dall’Igna’s perspective, this was particularly frustrating: in the manufacturers’ championship, they had closed the gap to Aprilia to just 11 points before Silverstone – but by the time they left the island, it was back to 29.