Gigi Dall’Igna confirms Ducati’s 2024 stance on team orders

Gigi Dall’Igna insists “we can't play dirty” when asked about team orders within Ducati.

The Italian manufacturer’s eight bikes on the 2024 MotoGP grid (double the amount of the Aprilias, KTMs and Hondas) plus the superiority of the Desmosedici means that team orders is a constant source of intrigue.

Last year, Ducati had three riders vying for the championship (Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi).

The brand’s chiefs were constantly asked if they preferred a factory rider to become champion - a subject which could become more prickly this season with the addition of Marc Marquez at Gresini.

Asked if Ducati riders could follow established orders, general manager Dall’Igna replied to Motorsport: “This is a sport, which means we have to act in a sporting way and we can't play dirty.

“This is the basis of my philosophy.

“To play dirty would be to limit the performance of a bike to prevent a rider from winning.

“Jorge Martin had all the cards to fight for the title last year, right to the end. No strange moves.

“That's playing fair, playing the sport correctly.”

And in the 2022 season, then-Gresini rider Enea Bastianini was able to fight factory rider and eventual champion Bagnaia wheel-to-wheel at several late rounds.

But in both seasons it has been Bagnaia who triumphed as champion.

His supremacy may be challenged by Marquez who will ride a year-old Ducati at his new team, but has been tipped to challenge for the title by many people within the paddock.

Dall’Igna was asked if more people would credit Marquez, rather than the bike that he has built for Ducati.

“My goal is to win, and I have to try to make Ducati do it for as long as possible,” he replied.

“That is the goal in my job. I am not egocentric in that sense.

“I don't see only Ducati winning, but winning together with the rider and the team. We are a team.

“I have never considered whether the rider or the bike is more important.

“The only thing that counts is that, at the end of the season, whoever wins the most important title will be on a Ducati.”

The new concessions rules this year - which will prohibit Ducati as last year’s most dominant team - could level the playing field and see additional challengers emerge.