Dell’Igna: When you win all the time, you become unpopular among rivals

george martinThe 2024 title on Satellite Ducati and the Italian manufacturer’s record-breaking achievements over the past three years – with 55 wins in 78 races – underline the role of Gigi Dell’Igna, the architect of its historic supremacy.

The final result of the 2024 season proved Martin’s campaign to be even more consistent francesco bagnaiaEven though the Spaniard only had three wins on Sunday – eight less than his rival.

The Italian’s 11 Grand Prix wins have given him a win rate of 50% in a season that consisted of 20 rounds after several cancellations. The number of races won by both Martin and Bagnaia increased mark marquez (3 more anea bastianini (2), giving Ducati a total of 19 wins in 2024.

The clean sweep for the Red Bikes was only prevented by Maverick Vinales’ victory for Aprilia in Austin. The Spaniard unwittingly inspired the Bologna factory to take inspiration from Porsche’s campaign in 1983, when it placed nine cars in the top 10 at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

With 19 Grand Prix wins, Ducati also took a total of 53 podiums in 2024, 10 more than last year. But if there’s one statistic that best reflects the Borgo Panigale manufacturer’s dominance, it’s that it locked out the podium on 14 occasions, setting a new record. Additionally, Ducati has had at least one rider on the podium in the last 66 races, and at least one bike on the front row in the last 80 rounds.

Based on these numbers, Ducati riders deserve arguably the greatest recognition for their performances over the past few years. But the key to this success is another person, Gigi Dall’Igna, the architect of the modern Desmosedici. Under his guidance, the Italian brand has achieved a level of reach that its rivals cannot reach, and all signs indicate that this trend will continue for quite a few years… but Ducati will be able to crush its rivals. ‘Igna is not interested.

“The important thing is to win, not to sweep. When you sweep you become unpopular. In fact, I think other brands see me the same way, and it makes me feel bad,” Dall’Igna said in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com.

“I work to continue winning, although it may happen that sometimes we exaggerate a little and find ourselves in a situation like the current one. But my aim each year is not to surpass the previous one; But we have to win, ‘that’s it’.

Since arriving from the Piaggio Group in 2014, Dall’Igna has been moving forward at the same pace as his legacy. After two years of adaptation, in which none of his bikes achieved a single victory, the first success finally came in 2016. However, it took time for Ducati to fully reap what the Italian engineers had sown and that did not happen until 2021. The brand’s commitment to the competition became clear.

Since then, each season has surpassed the previous season in terms of wins and podiums. Likewise, it should also be taken into account that in 2024 no brand had that many bikes (eight) on the grid, although next year this number will reduce to six.

In 11 years under Dall’Igna’s leadership, Ducati has earned 75 wins and 229 podiums. This is more than Honda’s 64 wins, which was tied with mark marquez Until last year, or Yamaha’s 44, which enjoyed considerable success with many star riders.

In terms of podiums, the difference is even greater if we consider that second-place Yamaha has scored 154 podiums, 75 less than Ducati.