Marc Márquez will be part of the Gresini team in the 2024 MotoGP season, where he will ride a Ducati Desmosedici GP23. The rider’s talent is recognized, making him a strong contender for the championship, even against four riders who will have the most updated version of the bike, unlike him.
Ducati Corse General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna is not bothered by this, as he assured Motorsport.com: ‘If Marc wins the next championship, it will be because he was the best and deserved it. The equation is straightforward. I don’t see how this could harm Ducati’s image. I never thought about whether the rider or the bike matters more. It’s the combination that wins. For me, someone winning the championship with a previous year’s prototype has never been a problem’.
The experienced engineer cited examples from his management with Marco Simoncelli, Gabor Talmaci, and Héctor Faubel in the MotoGP feeder categories and emphasized: ‘My goal is to win, and I have to use all the methods at my disposal to achieve it. Eventually, it may happen that the new prototype doesn’t improve the performance of the previous one. Where’s the problem?’.