To reach the level it is currently at, Ducati had to sweat a lot. The work was relentless and began almost ten years ago, when the bike that eventually became the current GP23 started being developed, according to team manager Davide Tardozzi.
‘I believe there is a story after Gigi Dall’Igna’s arrival, everything changed after 2014, we started a new story in MotoGP with the new bike that we have been developing year after year. This bike is not a revolution, it is the evolution of the 2015 bike. We have reached a point where everyone is very competitive,’ he told Autosport.
In the same interview, Tardozzi recalled the less happy periods in the brand’s ranks. ‘We were in trouble when everyone said “only Casey Stoner can ride the bike,” and now we have reached a point where we have eight riders and all eight riders are very competitive, and that is something that makes us very proud of the work we have done,’ he pointed out.
‘I think that at this moment, we have reached a point where we can manage the results considering that we have never stopped evolving the bike. Our competitors are honestly very tough and we are afraid that they will find something that can make them faster than us. But we are happy with this situation,’ he added.
In the season that ended a few weeks ago in Valencia, six of the eight riders in the Ducati universe achieved at least one victory in the Grand Prix races, and all eight were on the podium at least once in the 20 races that filled the calendar of the premier class this year.
