interview with domenicali ducati: “Bagnaia reference, Marquez will try to beat him”

From the oven of a Misano Adriatico overflowing with passion for the World Ducati Week, to the English summer (and with more human temperatures) of Silverstone, which at the halfway point of the championship finds a MotoGP in celebration, with the celebration for the 75th anniversary. The holidays are over, Francesco Bagnaia arrives in Great Britain as the championship leader and winner of the last 5 races: the four world championships and the Race of Champions in Misano, where he dominated hands down with the Panigale V4. It is a golden 2024 for the Rossa, which has won 8 of the 9 races of the season, and which has monopolized the podium in the last 6 races. A magical moment for its ‘commander in chief’, the CEO Claudio Domenicali, who in this chat speaks in the round, from the WDW to the brand new, and beautiful, Panigale V4, to the World Championship, of today and tomorrow.

On Sunday, we cannot help but start with a record-breaking WDW, with 94,000 attendees from 85 countries.

“Every time we put in the effort to do it better than the previous one. We managed to do the best WDW ever, also because the conditions were right: we had an incredible lineup of riders, confirming the extraordinary moment of our brand in racing. The passion for Ducati has never been as strong as it is now”.

In a complicated moment worldwide for all brands, does an event like WDW help?

“These are events that work more in the long term and on loyalty, there is not a 1:1 relationship with sales. We at WDW believe deeply, but it is not something that allows us to compensate for the weaknesses of the market, which is subject to many macroeconomic variables. Each brand faces the dynamics in its own way, our fundamentals are those of a brand that believes a lot in science and technology, that works a lot on product development, on design, but at the same time creates a very close and participatory relationship with its customers, creating a sense of family”.

Improving is always difficult, often the steps forward are minimal. In Misano you presented the new Panigale V4: the seventh generation of your supersport bike has left the riders enthusiastic, everyone has found a great improvement.

“As an engineering company, we were all very curious to see what would happen once the Panigale was put in the hands of these best riders in the world. And seeing that the qualifying time dropped by a second, which is a lot, made us think that something was abnormal. When we send a new MotoGP bike out on the track, the old one often goes faster at the beginning. For the Race of Champions the guys only had two 20-minute test sessions, nobody did what they needed to do to reach their limit. Iannone’s 1’35″0, with Pecco right there, was extraordinary. However, the bike has truly undergone a revolution in many areas and there has been an implementation of many small things, which at this level make the difference”.

If you look at the motorbike, what is the detail you like the most?

“I would say the rear swingarm, because it is a structure that has a very important engineering function, given its importance in decoupling torsional rigidity from lateral rigidity. The design cannot work freely, as the swingarm is a very technical element. But the thing that fascinated me the most is how the engineers gave targets that the designers at the style center interpreted with a series of full and empty spaces that are very interesting from an artistic point of view. There is this idea of ​​an object that is extremely high-performance, like a MotoGP, but with additional attributes. No one would dream of having a MotoGP that is also interesting from a design point of view, while with the Panigale we have realized this dream. And, if we want, the swingarm with the silencer under the engine makes the Panigale unique. All the other bikes have it lateral. Putting the silencer under the engine is very complicated, but this is a bit of Ducati’s philosophy, to do things that are a bit special, even if they are complicated and more expensive, because this then rewards you. If you look at the silhouette from behind, very clean, it’s exciting.”

The Race of Champions was the icing on the cake of the three days. And Bagnaia showed that he is in a world of his own compared to the others.

“Pecco also knows the pebbles of Misano, but it’s never easy. Also because you are the world champion and you have to prove it at every traffic light that goes out. On a completely new bike that is the same for everyone, he has shown that he is the world champion, not a 2023 bike, a 2024 bike and a lot of bullshit, ready to go and there was no contest. If Bastianini, Martin or Bautista had won, he could have said that he was thinking about Silverstone, instead… He is in incredible shape at the moment, which is not just the confidence he has with his bike. He really has his own physical and mental shape. And then he has talent… and yes, there are still some who question him”.

The sore point was that last corner of the last lap with the contact of Marquez that sent Bulega to the ground. Marc could have saved himself from it, given the context.

“Yes, yes. If we could control everything from the control room, we would have avoided this. Everyone had been advised to be careful with the others and the slide at the last corner was not appropriate. We looked at the images from many angles, if it had been a race it would have been a normal racing accident, because Nicolò was a bit wide, Marc entered, and when Nicolò went to make his corner he didn’t expect to find him there, he leaned and bounced back. But by not giving points, maybe that overtaking could have been avoided”.

Let’s say we are training for what we will be able to see in 2025.

“I don’t know, those will be real races, and in a race it happens, but it wasn’t an unfair overtaking. Next year Marc will certainly do everything possible to win the World Championship and we took him for that. He will compete against everyone. Pecco will want to win the World Championship again, an event like this could happen, but since it is a racing incident it could happen to anyone”.

Ducati races to sell more bikes, but racing is making Ducati go down in history: in the last six races, the podium has been entirely occupied by Desmosedicis, something no other manufacturer has ever achieved.

“Ours is an extraordinary moment that continues, because we come from two double World Championships in MotoGP and Superbike, and this too is unique. Ducati Corse has done a magnificent job, the magnificent work has attracted very strong riders and very strong riders give better indications. We have triggered a virtuous circle. Other competitors have entered, instead, a vicious circle, some riders have left and find themselves with less strong riders, who give less clear indications. We know the issue, we have been there too. We are enjoying the moment”.

And this despite the concessions to other manufacturers.

“Our technical regulation is also a unique regulation in motorsport. In Formula 1 it is different, Red Bull dominates but the other brands have no advantages. Instead, in MotoGP there is a system whereby the others have technical advantages and we are slowed down. So it is worth more. It is clear that, by increasing the advantages of the others, you find yourself racing with a backpack, they add a kilo, two, three, but sooner or later your legs give out. We also have to keep this issue under control, because we make very strong investments and we are willing to accept these concessions up to a certain point”.

Riders come and go, but does losing Pramac weigh on you?

“Yes. We have done an extraordinary job with them for 20 years, which is not normal in racing. Pramac has also grown a lot in terms of potential results and we had to necessarily return to a strategy that was the original one from which we were born, that is, a team that would help the riders grow. And I think that, staying in the same area, this would have been a bit difficult for them to accept. Pramac preferred to reshuffle all the cards. We have decided to focus on the 2027 bike, the championship is very demanding from an economic point of view, there are other manufacturers that have decided to invest more, while we are focused on the development of the bike. We would have liked to stay with them, but marriages are made in twos, even if it is not a given that we will meet again in the future”.

Between Martin, Bastianini and Bezzecchi, who wouldn’t have wanted to lose?

“Martin. Jorge is a very strong talent, not that Enea and Bez aren’t, but he has shown it more. He is playing for the World Championship now and if last year it had been possible to give the title ex-aequo, Jorge deserved it as much as Pecco”.

But then what more should he have done than what he did to get the official Ducati?

“It’s a good question. In my opinion, things didn’t work out. From the beginning, he said ‘I’m not staying at Pramac’ and they burned a few bridges. The single thing Jorge shouldn’t have done was not to say he wouldn’t stay at Pramac. I’d never asked myself this question about what more he should have done, but when you say a series of noes, then those who have to decide have fewer cards to play.”

But Marquez also said no to Pramac.

“Marc too, true. Everyone made this very difficult for us, and for me personally also painful, because with Jorge I had built a personal relationship. We have this idea of ​​family, so that you also get attached to people. It was tiring, because he is a great talent that we would have liked to keep with us. These guys grow, become very strong and expectations are generated that lead to burning a few bridges. He preferred to change manufacturers, but maybe in a year he will change his mind and we will meet again”.

Why haven’t you renewed with Aruba in Superbike yet?

“We have reached an agreement and we are at the final details. But there are no problems”.

Will you renew with Bautista or maybe look at Iannone and Petrucci?

“I know the team is discussing to find a solution. Then it always takes two people. The fan always wants everything, but at the base there is a question of economic sustainability and we as a company always try to make the numbers add up. We would certainly like it if he stayed”.