Gigi Dall’Igna: ‘We have to find six kilos to put on Alvaro Bautista’s bike’

The Ducati Corse general manager believes the blend of Bautista’s experience and youthful talent of Nicolo Bulega is the perfect combination for the 2024 WorldSBK campaign.

Hoever, overcoming the new rider and bike weight limit rule will be a challenge, particularly for Bautista who is one of the lightest riders on the grid.

“It’s difficult and not easy,” said Dall’Igna. “We have probably five or six kilos to put on the bike, depending on the weight of Alvaro.

“It’s not easy to put this ballast on the bike. We have to try during the test, the first test of the year, what will be the best position to reduce the problem as much as possible.

“On the fuel capacity, it’s another important difference from last year. We will have to manage the fuel consumption of the bike better to not have trouble in the race.

“We need to be really focused on these two aspects.”

When speaking about the new Aruba.it Ducati line-up, Dall’Igna was very excited as moving Bulega up to WorldSBK was a priority, according to the Ducati mastermind.

“I’m really happy about the two riders. One has the experience of the champion [Bautista] so it is a guarantee for us,” added Dall’Igna.

“The other one is a rider who grew up very well with WorldSSP. He was really, really fast in the test he did in the final part of last season.

“In the future, it will be important to have him on our bike.”

While achieving similar success as the last two seasons, in both WorldSBK and MotoGP will be challenging, that’s exactly what Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali wants in 2024.

Speaking at the official launch, Domenicali “Ducati has a great history towards beauty and design; design’s always been a very important element but it’s even more important today. Beauty fills our hearts.

“We were Champions last year in MotoGP and WorldSBK. This is something unprecedented as no company has won MotoGP and WorldSBK two years in a row, so I think this is a goal that needs to be consolidated.

“The question might be ‘how can you do even better this season?’.”