Ducati: Gigi Dall’Igna Is Blunt About Pecco Bagnaia

On the sidelines of the MotoGP Sprint Race held at Motorland Aragon, Ducati Corse General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna commented on the diametrically opposed results of the two factory bikes: Marc Marquez managed to win the short race, finishing ahead of his brother Alex and Marco Bezzecchi, while Pecco Bagnaia could only manage a disappointing 11th-place finish, outside the points-scoring zone in Saturday’s races.

“It was a complicated race; we were concerned about the choice of rear tire,” Dall’Igna told Sky Sport. “The track conditions weren’t easy to read, but in the end we found a balance that allowed Marc to perform at his best. He was also outstanding: he had an extraordinary race—he practically won it at the first braking point. He managed the race with clarity, immediately understood where he could make a difference, and brought home a very important victory for us.”

The engineer from Vicenza didn’t hold back when asked to comment on Pecco Bagnaia’s performance. “We need to talk and figure out what happened. It’s a difficult time—we know it, and he knows it too. Today he wasn’t able to finish in the points, and we can’t be satisfied with that. But we have to stick together, because that’s the only way out of this: the team, the rider—all of us together.”

Marquez returned to victory at Aragon after the long summer break that began with the disappointing weekend at Silverstone, where he finished ninth in the Sprint Race and seventh in Sunday’s Grand Prix. Bagnaia, on the other hand, has now gone two consecutive Sprint Races without scoring any points; previously, in the Saturday races, he had always finished in the top nine.