If you win on a regular basis, you grow to be unpopular with rivals

Jorge Martin’s 2024 title on a satellite tv for pc Ducati and the record-breaking achievements of the Italian producer within the final three years – with 55 wins in 78 races – underline the function of Gigi Dall’Igna, the architect of its historic supremacy.

The ultimate results of the 2024 season validated Martín’s marketing campaign as extra constant than that of Francesco Bagnaia, although the Spaniard scored solely three Sunday wins – eight fewer than his rival. 

The Italian’s 11 grand prix victories give him a profitable fee of fifty% in a season that featured 20 rounds after a number of cancellations. The races received by each Martin and Bagnaia, added to the tallies of Marc Marquez (3) and Enea Bastianini (2), give Ducati a complete of 19 victories in 2024. 

A clear sweep for crimson bikes was solely prevented by Maverick Vinales’s triumph in Austin for Aprilia. The Spaniard inadvertently led the Bologna manufacturing facility to take inspiration from Porsche’s marketing campaign in 1983, when it positioned 9 automobiles inside the highest 10 on the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Together with the 19 grand prix victories, Ducati additionally achieved a complete of 53 podiums in 2024, 10 greater than the earlier yr. But when there’s one statistic that greatest represents the dominance of the Borgo Panigale producer, it’s that it locked out the rostrum on 14 events, setting a brand new file. Moreover, Ducati has had not less than one rider on the rostrum within the newest 66 races, and not less than one bike on the entrance row within the final 80 rounds.

Primarily based on these numbers, Ducati riders arguably deserve the best recognition for his or her efficiency over the previous couple of years. However one other individual key to this success is Gigi Dall’Igna, the architect of the modern-day Desmosedici. Beneath his baton, the Italian marque has achieved a degree that its rivals can’t attain, and all indicators point out that this development will proceed for fairly a couple of years… however Dall’Igna has little interest in crushing Ducati’s rivals.

“The essential factor is to win, to not sweep. If you sweep, you grow to be unpopular. In truth, I feel that the opposite manufacturers see me like that, and that makes me really feel unhealthy,” Dall’Igna mentioned in an unique interview with Motorsport.com. 

“I work to proceed profitable, though it could occur that typically we exaggerate a bit and discover ourselves in a state of affairs like the present one. However my goal is to not surpass the earlier yr every year; however to win, ‘merely’.”

Since his arrival in 2014 from the Piaggio Group, Dall’Igna has saved rising on the similar pace as his legacy. After two years of adaptation, wherein none of his bikes achieved a single victory, the primary success lastly got here in 2016. Nevertheless, it took time for Ducati to completely reap what the Italian engineer had sown and it wasn’t till 2021 that the model’s dedication to the competitors grew to become evident. 

Since then, every season has surpassed the earlier one by way of victories and podiums. In the identical approach, it should even be taken under consideration that no model has had so many bikes on the grid (eight) in 2024, though that quantity will drop down to 6 subsequent yr.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Staff, Enea Bastianini, Ducati Staff, Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures

Within the 11 years with Dall’Igna on the helm, Ducati has collected 75 victories and 229 podiums. That’s larger than the 64 wins of Honda, which was related to Marc Marquez till final yr, or the 44 of Yamaha, which loved appreciable success with quite a lot of star riders. 

By way of podiums, the distinction is even higher if we think about that second-placed Yamaha has scored 154 podiums, 75 fewer than Ducati.