MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

With the Trackhouse Racing launch behind us and the factory Aprilia launch coming up on Thursday, we are heading slowly back into the 2025 MotoGP season. And that means a trickle of news updates which are actually interesting, rather than just filler to hit an article count. Here's stuff worth reading.

Gigi Dall'Igna interview

Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall'Igna has given a video interview to Motorsport.com, on racing, on choosing Marc Márquez over Jorge Martin, and more. You can watch the entire video here in Italian, but Motorsport also have an English recap of the video here.

The most interesting part of the interview are when Dall'Igna explains some of the working process that makes Ducati such a strong brand. He explains how having meetings with engineers from all of the different areas of the bike - engine, chassis, aerodynamics, electronics - helps give them all an understanding of the problems each area faces. That gives them more insight into how changes they might make will affect the other areas of the bike.

Dall'Igna also talked about losing Jorge Martin to Aprilia. Ducati knew they ran a risk that Martin would take the #1 plate with him to Aprilia when they signed Marc Márquez to the factory team, but they had to make a choice. And what mattered was not who won, but how he won. "Number 1 is just a number; what matters is that Martin won the title on a Ducati," Dall'Igna said.

Claudio Domenicali on Ducati

Spanish broadcaster DAZN had a show looking back at Ducati's time in MotoGP, with CEO Claudio Domenicali. The Italian covers a lot of ground, including their arrival in the premier class, their surprise at getting on the podium in their first race at Suzuka in 2003, they year Casey Stoner won the title in 2007, and their path from there.

Domenicali also addresses the disappointment of the two years Valentino Rossi spent at the factory, the changes made to address that failure, and how hiring Gigi Dall'Igna turned out to be the salvation of the Bologna factory in MotoGP.

The Italian also talks about the period since, about the impact that Pecco Bagnaia had on the factory and how important it was to win the championship with an Italian rider on an Italian bike. He discusses Jorge Martin's impact, and why they chose Marc Márquez over Martin for the factory team. "In the end, we believe that he has a little bit more, perhaps," Domenicali says of Márquez.

Finally, he discusses how Ducati will approach 2025, with Marc Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia sharing a garage. "Both are champions, and both want to win. At the end, the best rider will win. I think this is the best way."

You can read a summary in Spanish of the show here, on the website of AS.com.

Honda - hard at work in Buriram

Honda were once the powerhouse that Ducati has become, and their work to recover the ground they have lost in MotoGP continues apace. On Friday and Saturday, HRC test riders Aleix Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami will take to the track in Buriram, Thailand, to continue work on the 2025 version of the Honda RC213V.

Espargaro, who retired from full time racing with Aprilia to join Honda as a test rider at the end of 2024, has already had two days of private testing at Jerez, at the end of November. There he shared the track with factory riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini, and LCR Honda's Johann Zarco.

The choice of Buriram as a test track is an interesting one. MotoGP holds an official two-day test there on February 12th and 13th ahead of the season opener on March 2nd, so testing there provides useful feedback. But Buriram is also a track where Michelin bring a special heat-protective casing for the rear tire, which reduces the amount of rear grip the bikes have. As rear grip is one of the biggest problems the Honda has at the moment, electing to test at Buriram can help identify where the problems with the bike lie.

Jack Miller on Márquez, Bagnaia, and Ducati

Crash.net has been running a series of segments from an interview Peter McLaren did with Australian MotoGP legend Jack Miller. In the latest installment, the now Pramac Yamaha rider looks back at the 2024 season, and the battle between Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, and Marc Márquez. As always with Miller, the interview manages to entertain and inform.

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