Marco Bezzecchi
Luigi Dall’Igna has signed several MotoGP riders in his role as the general manager of Ducati Corse, with Marc Marquez the most recent hire for their factory team in 2025.
The Borgo Panigale squad named Dall’Igna as their general manager in October 2013, ahead of Bernhard Gobmeier joining the wider Volkswagen Motorsport Group after just 10 months at Ducati. Dall’Igna formally took up his role for the Ducati MotoGP team in November 2013.
Ducati hired Dall’Igna after seeing him guide Aprilia to strong success in the World Superbike Championship, including coordinating Max Biaggi’s WSBK titles in 2010 and 2012. Ducati did not secure a podium in the 2013 MotoGP season, en route to fourth in the teams’ standings.
You are Luigi Dall’Igna. Pick your SIX Ducati riders for the 2027 MotoGP season 👇
Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden formed Ducati’s rider line-up in the 2013 season, which saw the Italian secure eighth in the riders’ standings as the best Ducati pilot with 140 points. Ducati also signed Cal Crutchlow in August 2013 to replace Hayden from the 2014 season.
Dall’Igna made Andrea Iannone his first signing as Ducati’s general manager in August 2014, having quickly elected to replace Crutchlow from the 2015 season. Several riders have since passed through the team, and MotoGP News has ranked all of Dall’Igna’s signings for Ducati.
7) Andrea Iannone – 32 races, 1 win and 300 points for Ducati
Iannone became the first rider whom Dall’Igna signed for Ducati ahead of the 2015 MotoGP season, having impressed his fellow Italian with his results aboard a satellite Desmosedici at Pramac. But the Vasto native’s time in Borgo Panigale would, ultimately, only last two terms.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Ducati from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
Ducati initially reaped the rewards from Iannone’s capture, as he achieved fifth place in the 2015 riders’ standings ahead of Dovizioso in eighth. Yet when the pressure built on the two Andreas in early 2016 as they fought to secure a future at Ducati for 2017, Iannone cracked.
Dall’Igna had already signed a new rider, and he quickly knew who they would replace when Iannone took Dovizioso out at the last turn on the final lap of the 2016 Argentina Grand Prix. Iannone tried a late move for P2, but he came from too far behind with far too much speed.
Even Iannone winning the 2016 Austrian GP to give Ducati their first Grand Prix victory since Casey Stoner won in Australia in 2010 was not enough to save his skin. So, the Italian joined Suzuki from the 2017 season, while Dovizioso stayed at Ducati and emerged as a title threat.
6) Enea Bastianini – 31 races, 3 wins and 470 points for Ducati
Dall’Igna started the 2022 MotoGP season following the form that Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin could produce aboard satellite Ducati Desmosedicis with Gresini and Pramac, having already decided to sign one of the two riders for the Bologna Bullets for the 2023 campaign.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Enea Bastianini from net worth to career stats
Ultimately, Bastianini beat out Martin for the factory Ducati seat and signed a two-year deal in August 2022. The Italian impressed Dall’Igna with his victories riding a one-year-old GP21 in Qatar, America and France, and another Grand Prix win followed later in 2022 in Aragon.
But Bastianini’s promotion to the factory Ducati team got off to a poor start when the Italian fractured his right shoulder in the inaugural MotoGP Sprint Race at the 2023 Portuguese GP. VR46’s Luca Marini took Bastianini out at Portimao, and he would miss a total of five rounds.
Another four-round absence also followed in 2023 after Bastianini caused a multi-rider crash on the first lap of that year’s Catalan Grand Prix. Even a late-season victory in the Malaysian GP was not enough to salvage Bastianini’s first season with the factory Ducati team in 2023.
Bastianini’s time with Ducati would come to an end in 2024 after the Bologna Bullets signed his replacement that June after he could only start the term with intermittent podiums. His tendency to start Grands Prix slowly and save his rear tyre frequently held Bastianini back.
5) Danilo Petrucci – 33 races, 2 wins and 254 points for Ducati
Ducati raided their satellite team, Pramac, in June 2018 to sign Danilo Petrucci and end their search for another teammate for Dovizioso. But despite Petrucci securing an emotional win for Ducati on home soil in the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, his time at the team did not work out.
Petrucci frequently struggled to adapt to the rear tyre that Michelin introduced during 2020, with his victory in that term’s French Grand Prix the only highlight from his second and final season as a factory Ducati rider. It would also be his only podium during the 2020 campaign.
4) Jorge Lorenzo – 32 races, 3 wins and 271 points for Ducati
Dall’Igna put Ducati’s riches on the table to persuade Jorge Lorenzo to leave Yamaha in April 2016, as the Borgo Panigale brand gave the three-time MotoGP champion a two-year, €50m (£43.5m) contract. But Lorenzo initially struggled to adapt to Ducati’s bike after the transfer.
READ MORE: Ranking Valentino Rossi’s top five MotoGP rivalries, including Jorge Lorenzo
Lorenzo endured a miserable first season for Ducati, as he went from fighting for the title in eight straight seasons to finishing just seventh in the standings without a Grand Prix victory. The Spaniard even finished more races outside the top 10 (5) than he did on the podium (3).
So, Dall’Igna quickly decided to replace Lorenzo with Petrucci in June 2018, but Ducati then saw the former finally turn a corner. Lorenzo won the 2018 Italian GP and Catalan GP back-to-back, and scored a further victory in the 2018 Austrian GP before injuries ruined his run.
Lorenzo missed four of the final five rounds of the 2018 season after dislocating a toe and fracturing the second metatarsal on his right foot in Thailand, as well as later requiring an operation on his left wrist. Without the injuries, Ducati may have regretted releasing him.
Ducati had finally seen what Lorenzo could produce when he felt comfortable on their bike after they added padding to his fuel tank after he started the 2018 season without a top 10 Grand Prix finish over the first four rounds. The extra padding let Lorenzo use his legs more.
3) Jack Miller – 38 races, 3 wins and 370 points for Ducati
Dall’Igna once again took the tried and tested route of raiding Pramac to sign another rider in May 2020, as Ducati handed Jack Miller a one-year deal to move into their factory team. It only took Miller the first four rounds of the 2021 season to secure two wins with Ducati, too.
But Miller’s early promise failed to lead to consistent results, as he regularly drifted on and off the podium. The Australian would only take one further Grand Prix victory for Ducati in the 2022 Japanese GP, as well, which came after KTM had signed Miller to a two-year deal.
2) Francesco Bagnaia – 99 races, 31 wins and two titles for Ducati
Francesco Bagnaia will go down as one of the most important riders in Ducati’s history as a MotoGP team. Like his Italian compatriot Dovizioso, Bagnaia helped to turn Ducati into the dominant team with his efforts at the start of the championship’s aerodynamic revolution.
READ MORE: The best moments of Francesco Bagnaia’s MotoGP career
Dall’Igna signed Bagnaia in September 2020 to graduate from Pramac, where he had raced on a factory Ducati contract since his MotoGP debut in 2019, after Dovizioso chose against renewing his deal. It proved to be one of the best decisions that Dall’Igna has made so far.
Bagnaia instantly emerged as a title contender upon joining Ducati, and he almost won the crown in 2021 after finishing 26 points shy of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo. Ultimately, it was second time lucky for Bagnaia in 2022, as he sealed Ducati’s first title since Stoner’s in 2007.
The Turin native even achieved back-to-back championships with the 2023 title, before then falling 10 points shy of Martin in 2024 as the Spaniard won the title on a satellite Ducati with Pramac. And beyond his titles, Bagnaia was Ducati’s leader beside Miller and later Bastianini.
1) Marc Marquez – 18 races, 11 wins and one title for Ducati
Dall’Igna decided early in the 2024 season that Ducati would not be giving Bastianini a new contract. And it did not take Dall’Igna long to decide that Ducati should sign Marquez over Martin to join Bagnaia, with the Spaniard handed a two-year deal from 2025 in June 2024.
READ MORE: Marc Marquez’s first MotoGP title with Ducati was defined by five moments
Ducati chose to sign Marquez over Martin having seen what he could achieve aboard a year-old GP23 at Gresini, after leaving his home in the factory Honda crew for the satellite Ducati team in 2024. Ducati even decided to sign Marquez before he won a Grand Prix with Gresini.
While Martin went on to beat Bagnaia to win the 2024 MotoGP riders’ title before he joined Aprilia in 2025, Ducati would not have any regrets about taking Marquez. The Cervera native was simply in another league to any other rider in 2025, as he won his first title since 2019.
Marquez won the 2025 MotoGP title with five rounds to spare, as he left Motegi with a 201-point lead over his brother Alex Marquez following the Japanese Grand Prix. He also scored 11 Grand Prix wins, 14 Sprint wins and eight pole positions over the 18 rounds he contested.
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