If Gigi Dall’Igna left Ducati? Marc Marquez: “I’d ask where are you going…”
Importance of Gigi Dall'Igna laid bare by Marc Marquez
Marc Marquez has explained how the presence of Gigi Dall’Igna is fundamental to his signing for Ducati.
Marquez’s arrival to the official team in 2025 means Ducati have an all-star rider line-up led by an engineer extraordinaire.
Marquez demanded to know if Dall’Igna was committed to staying at Ducati before he signed his new contract.
“With Gigi we have always had a very direct and very sincere relationship,” he told AS.
“I am in Ducati because of Gigi Dall'Igna. He is the engineer who has won what he has touched.
“One of the phrases that I say to him when we startED talking is: ‘For me the most important thing about ‘25 and ‘26 is that you are still at Ducati, right?
“‘Because if not we don't even need to sit down’.
“Why? Because it's the Corse department.
“When you are already within the Ducati family you will get to feel the colours, but you can't do it before.
“You feel them afterwards, not before entering.
“According to him, they have been guided only by what they have seen on the track, with progression and with the ability to improve in the future.”
Marquez was asked what he might have done, if Dall’Igna did not intend to stay at Ducati.
“It depends,” he answered.
“Then many other things would have been valued.
“Maybe I would have asked him: ‘Where are you going?’
“Gigi has been very important, the conductor has always been there.
“In 2017 and 2018 we had contact and we have always been very direct.
“Those years I told them not to make me any offers because I was doing well at Honda and I didn't want to get into the game of seeing if one would give me more than the other.
“When I have something clear, I go for what I feel and what I felt was being at Ducati.”
Marquez has admitted he must fight for the MotoGP title in 2025, armed with a GP25.
He remains in title contention this year, as a Gresini rider on year-old machinery, but afterwards will have at least two seasons in Ducati’s official team to win his seventh MotoGP championship.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
