MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The CEO of Ducati Corse, the racing division of the manufacturer that won the jackpot in the 2022 racing season, sat in the snow during the launch of Ducati's 2023 season, with a glass of prosecco in hand, for a personal conversation and ... engineered

Luigi, or Gigi as everyone calls him, Dall'Igna always dreamed of working in racing. He graduated in mechanical engineering at the University of Padua with a thesis on carbon monocoque chassis. Almost straight out of university he moved to the Aprilia factory in Noale, Italy. Over more than two decades, he led Aprilia to championship titles in World Superbikes and the 125 and 250 cc categories in MotoGP, with riders such as Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Alvaro Bautista, Marco Melandri, Manuel Poggiali, and Max Biaggi of course.

Then Dall'Igna surprised the world of motorsport when he accepted an offer from rival manufacturer Ducati. Since graduating, he has only worked for Aprilia, except for a very short time in 2005 when he worked for Derbi. For the 2014 season, Dall'Igna was on his way to try to make the difference, as he did in Aprilia, only this time for the factory in Bologna.

Gigi is considered a legend, a magician, a brain, and Ducati was very excited by the arrival of someone who later made radical changes in the racing department. Ducati were in a crisis, after a long decline which had started shortly after winning their first title with Casey Stoner in 2007. The culmination of the crisis was the failure with one of the greatest riders ever, Valentino Rossi. Ducati knew that in order to come back and win, replacing riders would not be enough this time.

Dall'Igna not only led technological developments to Ducati's MotoGP bikes in areas such as chassis, engines, and innovations in the field of aerodynamics and launch mechanisms (which completely changed the industry in the modern era), he also made changes in the workflow. He led a process in which the cooperation between the teams on the track, the development and the factory was tightened and the flow of information optimized the work of the engineers, the team and the riders.

Under the direction of Dall'Igna, Ducati was the first manufacturer to collecting and returning data to the factory in Bologna in parallel to the team members who are working with the data from the bikes at the track. A move that makes it possible to instantly compare data between all the manufacturer's riders in the championship, allowing a more in-depth analysis of each rider's data - thus providing an answer and solving problems in a short time. According to Dall'Igna, he also did this almost without touching personnel status.

He is not only a magician, he has magic. The lanky figure with the white forelock and goatee is awash with charisma. He stands out in the field even just by standing, leaning or bending down to listen. He walks around the paddock without airs of grandeur, he calls to chat with all his riders, at times also calling riders who have had a bad crash even though they have never ridden for him. Dall'Igna gives everyone who is in front of him the feeling that they are the center of the world. This is why you can hear the CEO of Ducati Corse, who to this day has amassed 25 rider championships and almost 40 team and manufacturer championships, rejoicing with a big smile, a hug and calling "my friend" to a journalist from a small country outside the heart of motorcycle racing.

And so somewhere between the ski slopes at Madonna di Campiglio, during the launch of the 2023 season and after his greatest professional achievement, Gigi with a glass of prosecco in hand, dressed in a ski suit sits down for an interview - not before he also engineers the location to be in the sun by the bonfire.

I have been waiting for this interview for quite a long time and it was clear to me and to him that I would not focus on the technological aspect which most of the interviews he gives revolve around. But an interview about Ducati's human engine, Gigi the human and the manager. "Okay, so I'm recording now, so if there's something you regret later because of this," I say pointing in the direction of the prosecco, "let me know." He bursts out laughing and responds, "Go ahead, my friend," before answering the questions like, well, an engineer.

Q: I keep thinking how difficult it was for you personally until this year because when you moved from Aprilia to Ducati, let’s say you were the golden boy that was recruited to save them from the state that they were in. How difficult was it for you personally?

GD: Honestly, before reaching the result that you wish for, it's not easy for sure. But anyway the performance of Ducati during these years improved a lot starting from 2015, 2016 and mainly from 2017. We fought for good results every season. I think that for the brand the most important thing is to be competitive in the championship and in the races of the championship. For the team, for me, for the people involved in the project the most important thing is to catch the real result, the championship, the rider championship at the end, but we did our job even in the previous years not only in 2022.

Q: We know how the riders respond to not reaching their goal but how does someone who is not the rider respond?

GD: For anyone, for people like me, if you cannot catch your target and do not reach the real result you cannot be happy. At the end if you are second, third or fourth there is no difference, the only place in my head is first, because I am like this. Until last year for sure. And if I can tell you something, the most troubles I have are the Superbike results, because Ducati have had really good results in SBK for many years and it took too long to arrive at the target there, that's for sure.

Q: So who is more competitive, the riders or you?

GD: All the people involved in the project are really competitive and wish to reach the only place that we need.