What makes Ducati a winning company and motorcycle? The observations of some great MotoGP champions and managers.
Ducati will appear at the starting line as a great favorite for the 2023 world title. After an amazing season studded with victories, pole positions and the leadership in the rider, constructor and team standings, I’m sorry Bagnaia he will try again, flanked by the newcomer Enea Bastianini. The Desmosedici GP has become the reference point on the MotoGP class grid: “It’s always a question of results. And now, all the best riders would like to ride a Ducati. It wasn’t like that once“, Loris Capirossi told ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport’.
The rise of the Emilian brand is also thanks to the general manager Gigi Dall’Igna, torn from Aprilia, and to Andrea Dovizioso, who three times came close to hitting the World Championship, then having to surrender to a stratospheric Marc Marquez who until 2019 was unbeatable by any opponent and any team. But now that it has reached its peak, the question everyone is asking is whether Ducati will be able to start a winning cycle. And the answers are very optimistic…
The great climb of Ducati
Livio Suppo he was a Ducati manager at the very beginning of the MotoGP project, before moving to Honda and then closing the 2022 season with Suzuki. Currently the Emilian house is very different from those of 20 years ago, at the time of Filippo Preziosi. “Today it has twenty years of experience and, economically, the shoulders are broader, financially it is a different company, and not just because it is part of the Audi GroupSuppo explained. “In 2003 we were in pretty bad shape, the factory was obsolete and the sales numbers weren’t important“.
It must also be emphasized that the rise of the Emilian company has been matched by the descent of the Japanese giants. On the other hand, with a technical regulation that changes from year to year, nothing is enough to reshuffle the cards on the table. It is somewhat the law of historical cycles and recycles. Now that the Desmosedici is experiencing its golden moment, however, we must take advantage of it. There are no comparisons in terms of technology and innovation, as demonstrated by the brand’s entry into MotoE with one of its prototypes: “Every time I hit the track for a test, there was something new to try“, He admitted Alex DeAngelis which repeatedly tested the electric prototype in 2022.”What in my opinion distinguishes Ducati today is that they have an impressive workforce“.
However, once again Marc Marquez could hinder Ducati’s plans. But the real unknown factor is not so much the champion, albeit returning from four operations on his right arm, but the House of the Golden Wing, which will have to set up a winning bike to put him in a position to compete against the Reds and beyond. “With Marc, you never know if he will fully recover“, he stressed Loris Capirossi. “The question mark won’t be him, but the bike that Honda will give him“.
