‘Honestly, I get quite pissed off’
Gigi Dall’Igna is best known in MotoGP for pushing the boundaries with the new tech he has introduced: downforce aerodynamics, holeshot devices, shapeshifters (also called ride-height devices) and so on. All his tricks have been copied by the other firms, which proves the brilliance of his thinking, even if all he’s done is follow logic.
“Since the beginning of my career I’ve been convinced that aerodynamics hasn’t been developed enough in motorcycle racing,” he says. “So when I started working for Ducati I thought this is something we must push forward in order to win.”
A few years after introducing downforce aero Dall’Igna created holeshot devices and shapeshifters, which lower the motorcycle to reduce wheelies at the start and when exiting corners.
“If you study the data it’s easy to see that wheelies are one of the main problems in MotoGP, so if you want to reduce your lap times you must reduce wheelies.”
Although his rivals have copied Dall’Igna they have also fought to ban some of his technologies. This year Ducati added a front shapeshifter, to further improve corner-exit performance, but MotoGP recently decided to ban front shapeshifters from 2023.
“What’s important in MotoGP is that we develop new ideas and new methods. When you develop tech like aerodynamics you can use them to increase the
‘It’s not fair when they ban technology’
GIGI DALL’IGNA
performance of your race bike and also to improve your production machines, by improving cooling or keeping hot air away from the rider.
“It’s the same with ride-height devices – you can use them on production bikes, for example, to help smaller riders in the city.
“Honestly, I get quite pissed off when they ban technologies – it’s not fair.”