The 2026 Japanese Grand Prix has been a landmark moment for Gigi Dall’Igna, technical director of Ducati. On this date, he celebrated his 100th victory in a grand prix, one year after Marc Márquez won the MotoGP title with one of his creations. These 100 victories have been achieved in just 203 races, starting with Andrea Iannone’s first win at the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix.
The impression left by these figures is remarkable: Ducati has won almost one race in every two competitions over the last decade. Before Dall’Igna arrived in 2013, the Italian company had achieved only 31 grand prix victories.
Dall’Igna has emphasized that this success is the result of the joint work of the entire Ducati team over the years. “I am very proud of what we have achieved. The first victory with Iannone in Austria is a memory I hold dear,” he said in a recent interview.
Ducati did not become a giant in MotoGP by finding a dramatic advantage in a new cycle of regulations. The basic regulations have been relatively stable since 2012. Instead, the technical team led by Dall’Igna has worked to improve the weaknesses of the Desmosedici, taking advantage of concessions to win the first race in 2016.
Since then, Ducati has reinvented key aspects of competition, such as height adjustment devices and advanced aerodynamics, which have changed the image of the championship. Despite annual modifications to the rules, Ducati has demonstrated impressive adaptability, maintaining its winning trajectory.
Since 2020, Ducati has won the manufacturers’ title and, so far, maintains an invincible record in this category. In the riders’ championship, Márquez’s triumph in 2025 marked the fourth consecutive victory for Ducati.
The GP24, considered by many to be the best bike ever produced in Borgo Panigale, has become a benchmark of dominance, with Ducati winning 19 of the 20 races in 2024. However, the bike most appreciated by Dall’Igna is the GP25, which laid the foundation for the team’s current success.
Looking to the future, it remains to be seen if Ducati will conclude the 1000 cc era of MotoGP with a new title, despite the ongoing competition from Aprilia. Regardless of the outcome, Dall’Igna has become one of the main architects of one of the most successful periods for any manufacturer in MotoGP history.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
