Marco Bezzecchi
Luigi Dall’Igna has voiced his thoughts on why Ducati have been dethroned by Aprilia at the start of the 2026 season, asserting that it isn’t because of their limited development time due to MotoGP’s concession system.
Aprilia’s hot start to the 2026 MotoGP campaign has threatened to scupper Ducati’s hopes of securing a seventh consecutive title in the constructors’ championship. No other factory has won one in the current decade, but that could change this year.
The Noale-based team’s C-rank in MotoGP’s concession rankings means that they are allowed extra opportunities to test and develop their prototypes, while Ducati, the sole representative in rank A, have to abide by the bare minimum.
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Of course, that has certainly aided the Italian constructor in bridging the gap to their rivals in recent months, but Ducati’s top brass is adamant that it can’t be used as an excuse for Borgo Panigale’s downward trajectory.
Luigi Dall’Igna doesn’t blame MotoGP’s concession system for Ducati’s regression
During an event in Bologna that celebrated Ducati’s 100th anniversary, Ducati chief Luigi Dall’Igna spoke to Moto.it about the current state of Borgo Panigale’s MotoGP efforts.
Of course, Ducati’s dwindling performance in the premier class was a hot topic, and the Italian took some time to assert that their dethroning from the top of the MotoGP pecking order is no one’s fault but their own.
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He said, “The concession system is certainly designed to try to rebalance the system a bit, obviously, thus penalising Ducati, which has certainly made a difference from a technical standpoint in recent years.
“But I repeat, this is not an excuse. We are here to try to fight for victory, so we definitely need to roll up our sleeves and do everything in our power to bring our bike back to being the benchmark in the MotoGP system.”
The latest recipient of a factory Ducati bike, Alex Marquez, has also refused to point fingers at the Italian constructor.
In a recent interview, the Gresini star noted that Aprilia have simply done a better job than Ducati in terms of bike development, while also highlighting that Marc Marquez’s injury woes isn’t the reason for their regression.
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Ducati will continue to test their new aero upgrades after the Spanish GP
Team principal Davide Tardozzi previously confirmed that Ducati will be bringing some new parts to Jerez in order to test them on the Monday following the Spanish Grand Prix.
During Dall’Igna’s conversation with the Italian publication, he doubled down on how significant the testing session will be for the Italian constructor to start bridging the gap to Aprilia.
“Let’s say there will definitely be a test after Jerez, and during that test, I believe we can find the solutions to get back on the right track,” he added.
“But we’ll probably also try to run some tests during the race to find some solutions. We clearly have some ideas, and we need to understand whether these ideas are the right ones or not, so Monday’s test will definitely be important.”
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