GIGI DALL’IGNA SAYS DUCATI WERE NEVER TRULY IN THE FIGHT AT SILVERSTONE

Ducati Corse general manager Luigi “Gigi” Dall’Igna has described the Silverstone Grand Prix as a weekend in which his team was “never really in the race,” using his post-England reflections to underline both the gap in performance and the need to regain the momentum they had before the summer break.

According to Dall’Igna’s assessment, the contrast with the recent German round was stark. In Silverstone, no Ducati rider found the speed required to secure a front-row position, and the picture did not improve during the two races. He singled out Marc Marquez’s weekend as particularly difficult: the Sprint result was summed up as a “debacle,” and in the Grand Prix Marquez finished seventh, behind three Aprilia, two Ducati riders, and Pedro Acosta’s KTM.

Dall’Igna said Marquez “could never keep up with the pace of the best,” adding that the rider’s qualifying was affected by a yellow flag during his final attempt. He also pointed to the way the weekend unfolded: “For certain reasons our result was completely different from what we saw recently in Germany—actually it was the opposite.”

Marquez, Dall’Igna noted, had already warned that it would be a hard race. Dall’Igna quoted that warning in his own write-up: Marquez had expected a tough contest, and the race played out that way. He described a strong start that kept Marquez in podium contention for as long as possible before he gradually slipped back through the field. Even as the pace faded, Dall’Igna said Marquez continued to fight without taking unnecessary risks.

The Ducati team’s other headline name, Pecco Bagnaia, also came in for criticism. Dall’Igna said Bagnaia “finished his outing,” which he called something “you’d rather forget,” with a crash. He attributed part of the problem to the circuit itself, stating that Silverstone was “certainly not ideal” for Bagnaia after his recent forearm operation.

While the weekend was disappointing overall, Dall’Igna did offer praise. He named Alex Marquez as “the best Ducati representative” on both Saturday and Sunday. He also suggested that, had there been no mistake in the middle of the race, he believes Marquez “probably would have ended up on the Grand Prix podium.”

Ducati’s rivals also featured in Dall’Igna’s wider view of the championship. He referenced Fabio Di Giannantonio’s performance, describing it as valuable points within an “excellent season,” in a title fight that remains “completely open and unpredictable.”

Dall’Igna’s overall conclusion was blunt and self-critical. “Ducati was never really in the race in Silverstone,” he wrote, framing it as a jolt back to the reality of a fiercely contested championship against strong, uncompromising opponents. He stressed that the circuit once again proved how unpredictable it can be, pointing to “the twelfth different winner in as many races.” From qualifying through the Grand Prix, he said Ducati never found a competitive pace for different reasons, and that they repeatedly lacked the right feeling with the motorcycle.

Looking ahead, Dall’Igna urged the team to restore the energy they had before the summer break, calling for full commitment and the usual willingness to “give everything.”

In the championship context, after round 12 Marquez returned to fourth place in the standings. Dall’Igna highlighted that Marco Bezzecchi’s comeback moved him back past Marquez. He also pointed to the works battle: Ducati had closed the gap to Aprilia down to 11 points before Silverstone, but on leaving the island the deficit had widened again to 29.