Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna says he is willing to accept the criticism aimed at the Italian marque for hiring six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez in 2025.
The decision to sign former Honda star Marquez to partner protege Francesco Bagnaia next year has always been ‘divisive’ in the words of Dall’Igna, but the topic was reignited again this month when Enea Bastianini romped to victory in the British GP on the factory GP24.
Earlier, the backlash stemmed from the consequences of losing last year’s runner-up Jorge Martin and its long-standing team Pramac to rivals, but now many believe that Bastianini has also been hard done by in the rider market shuffle.
Dall’Igna reiterated that Ducati faced a difficult choice when it came to choosing its second factory seat for 2025, but he can take criticism from anyone who thinks the marque did not act in its best interests.
"I am very happy for Enea. Unfortunately, we had to choose a rider from three options, but all of them would have deserved to ride for the factory team,” he told Sky Sport Italy.
“As I have always said, it was a very difficult choice from a professional and sporting point of view, but also from a human point of view.
“It is clear that I am also here to receive criticism, and I accept it as I should.”
Ducati feared that Marquez could switch to another manufacturer in 2025 after he refused its offer to join Pramac on factory equipment. This is what ultimately led Ducati to offer him a seat that seemed destined to go to Martin and forced the latter to take his option at Aprilia.
Bastianini has also been dropped by the Borgo Panigale marque as a result of Marquez’s signing and has since agreed a deal with KTM to ride a factory-spec RC16 at the rebranded Tech3 team.
The Italian’s relationship with Ducati hasn’t broken down in the same way as Martin’s has, but he took the opportunity after his Silverstone triumph to question the decision to not retain him next year.
“I don't understand the choice of Ducati because they have lost two riders like me and Jorge, but I respect this decision,” he said.
“About KTM, I think it will be a good bike for me but I never tried this bike. I have seen it many times on track, but if you don't try you can't explain better if it has stronger points compared to Ducati or not, but let's see.”
With Ducati riders having won all but one grand prix between them in the first half of the season, the odds are in its favour to continue its dominance next year.
That is despite the marque going down from having eight bikes on the grid this year to just six in 2025, with only three of them being built to the latest specifications.
But Dall’Igna wouldn’t be drawn when asked about how competitive the new GP25 will be against its opposition next year.
"Every year is a whole new book, so at the end of the year we will close the 2024 one and open the 2025 one, which will depend so much on how the various teams work over the winter,” he said.
“We already have ideas that we are developing, but you never know what the others will be able to do, what they have to fire in their cannon.
"The most important thing is to 'survive' the current year and then think about the next one. I am happy with the bike's performance, we have been on a good level for years and I hope to continue like this.”
