Suzuka 8 hours not ruled out for Bagnaia, Ducati beyond 2023

Bagnaia completed a historic comeback to win his first MotoGP championship last month in Valencia, beating Fabio Quartararo who held a 91-point advantage over the Italian with ten races remaining.

Bagnaia, who is contracted to the factory Ducati team until the end of 2024 and has proven to be very quick on Superbike machinery after winning Ducati’s ‘Race of Champions’ earlier this year at Misano, is keen to try his hand at the Suzuka 8 Hours.

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Ducati did not contest the 2022 Suzuka 8 Hours race which saw Honda get the better of Kawasaki, and although an appearance in 2023 for Bagnaia has been ruled out by Dall’Igna, 2024 has not.

"It’s a really nice and interesting dream," said Dall’Igna when asked if Bagnaia and Ducati competing at Suzuka could take place in the future. "I hope to be able to make it come true for him. 

"It won’t be easy because there are a few technical problems to solve to do something like this right. But I’d like to build a dream team for Suzuka. 

"I don’t think we will be talking about it for 2023. 2024? These are things that take time to be managed well. It makes no sense to participate in a race like this if there is no possibility of doing well."

Bagnaia making an appearance for Ducati at the Suzuka 8 Hours was not the only thing discussed by Dall’Igna at the Italian manufacturer’s recent celebratory party, in which it celebrated the world titles won by Bagnaia and Alvaro Bautista in WorldSBK.

Complaints about the aero advances Ducati have been able to make in MotoGP have at times been made, while the subject of rev limits which has worked against the likes of Kawasaki in recent seasons have been a topic of discussion for years in WorldSBK.

However, Dall’Igna is not surprised that other manufacturers have voiced their displeasure given the success Ducati has enjoyed, although calling for penalties or the banning of technical parts is something ‘I never asked for’.

Dall’Igna said: "It’s part of their game. When I had to catch up I honestly thought and acted differently. I never asked for someone to be penalised or for technical solutions to be banned.

"Evidently in this world we are different."