What can we say? Today&rsquo;s MotoGP brings one surprise after another. While the Suzuki case remains vague, the latest bombshell regards Ducati, specifically Pecco Bagnaia&rsquo;s win at Jerez. According to a report by colleagues at Motorsport Magazine, the Italian &ndash; who has come under the magnifying glass along with three other riders - triumphed with a front tyre pressure that fell below the permitted limit. A serious allegation made - via colleague Mat Oxley - by an unknown engineer working for a rival manufacturer, to whom Gigi Dall&rsquo;Igna is keen to respond.  &ldquo;The minimum permitted pressure is 1.9 bar&rdquo;, begins Dall&rsquo;Igna, &ldquo;but, as ever, when you make the rules you also have to consider how they will be controlled, given that if the sensors used by one manufacturer differ from those used by another there&rsquo;s a risk of having an improper control method. Right now, the method used to acquire sensor signals is not ironclad, so anyone can modify the signals, transmitting them to the control unit that must read them. Ducati has not modified the signals, but I can&rsquo;t rule out that other manufacturer haven&#39;t done so, pretending to be in the correct pressure window even if they&rsquo;re not really. Another thing I want to say is that the data acquired by the control body doesn&rsquo;t consider the variance of each sensor and so values that appear to be below the minimum may not actually be. A little like a speed camera &ndash; it&rsquo;s not the exact speed recorded by the camera that is considered, but the correct speed, taking the variance into consideration. Last Friday, the MSMA (the manufacturers&rsquo; association) set out which sensors all manufacturers will have to use from 2023, once it&rsquo;s no longer possible to modify them, and alongside the rule, there will also be a clear control system&rdquo;.  So it is possible that other bikes have raced with a pressure lower than the permitted minimum in other races?  &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not possible, it&rsquo;s certain. We know this, given that the manufacturers share the data. I don&rsquo;t want to lower myself to the level of the person who shared the data, but I can say with confidence that other bikes have won with the same &lsquo;problem&rsquo;. For the front tyre, it&rsquo;s not easy to fall inside the limits set by Michelin &ndash; the pressure of this tyre depends largely on whether a rider runs the race in the slipstream or not. If a rider expects to run that kind of race, they set up the system in a certain way, or else in another way, but if the opposite happens in the race, then the actual pressure is lower than expected. The correct pressure window is very small, and linked to this is a safety issue, which we&rsquo;re working on together with the other manfacturers and Michelin, with a view to 2023&rdquo;.  Dall&#39;Igna: &quot;No regulatory violation&quot;   How do you explain Ducati coming under attack in this way?  &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t. The important thing is that the data in question is shared with both Michelin and those carrying out the controls, but despite this there have been no penalties. This is because there&rsquo;s an agreement between the various parties that means that for this year the data is monitored and then next year we&rsquo;ll have a rule to activate and control in a proper way.&rdquo;  It&rsquo;s strange that the current control system is unclear, don&rsquo;t you agree?  &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not really the case. There are many rules that have been corrected and managed recently. This system is evolving in the right direction, as is the rule relating to this aspect. We have all raised the issue of how to carry out the controls, and we&rsquo;re developing an accurate control method, which cannot be isolated from the rule itself. We all know how things stand right now and we cannot talk about regulatory violations, because the manufacturers, Dorna and the FIM all agree that the current pressure measurement method is not correct&rdquo;.  Is there a real control method right now?  &ldquo;No, but there can&#39;t be, due to the way the system has been set up until now. In the recent past, there have been no tyre-related problems, but we&rsquo;re working to improve the situation. I&rsquo;m not worried about the next races, as we&rsquo;re all trying to respect the windows imposed by Michelin&rdquo;.  So is this unjustified controversy?  &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the right person to respond, but I can say that Ducati has not made an issue of the fact that riders competing for other manufacturers have achieved certain results in previous races while probably failing to fall inside the correct limits. This is because, as I&rsquo;ve said, the control method is not reliable, and so the current values are worthless, something that all the MSMA manufacturers have acknowledged&rdquo;.  After all this, will Ducati work in a different way? Or will everything remain the same?  &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll continue exactly as we have done until now, because we are fully respecting the rules, as always.&rdquo;  Translated by Heather Watson  Albesiano: &ldquo;Aerodynamics in MotoGP? They may impact on the spectacle&rdquo; 

The Ducati Corse general director responds to accusations after Jerez: &quot;There is no proper control method right now&quot;

MotoGP, irregular pressure? Dall&#39;Igna: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve acted legally&rdquo;

        While Bagnaia celebrates his first win of the season, on the other side of the garage it is the 2023 riders&rsquo; market that continues to hold court. Considering Jack Miller&rsquo;s likely departure, despite recent reassurances from Ducati, the battle between Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin for the second factory bike appears fiercer than ever. Father of the current Desmosdici, Gigi Dall&rsquo;Igna, has spoken about the current situation, calming the waters but also transmitting an important message. &ldquo;We need to wait a few more races before making a final decision &ndash; confirms Dall&rsquo;Igna while talking to Sky &ndash; but both definitely deserve factory treatment. But we have time to think of course. Might one or the other leave Ducati? It&rsquo;s a possibility, but I think that continuity pays in racing, so a rider who&rsquo;s doing well with a bike should think four or five times before changing.&rdquo; Pernat &ndash; Ducati direct line. And Arbolino&hellip;  And the managers could play an important role in this duel, Enea Bastianini&rsquo;s manager Carlo Pernat in particularly fine form right now. The experienced agent has highlighted Bastianini&rsquo;s achievements in recent weeks and has a very good relationship with Dall&rsquo;Igna and Ducati in general. Speaking of Carlo and Ducati, another player who could be in the running for a move to the reigning class is Tony Arbolino, supported by Pernat, who celebrated his second Moto2 podium of the season at Jerez (third), following on from from his win at Austin. Quizzed about this, the young Italian gives nothing away of course, but does not exclude the possibility. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see what opportunities we have&rdquo;, explains Tony, &ldquo;but for now I need to think about Moto2 and the current season. Reject the idea of MotoGP? Never&rdquo;. Essentially, the market is yet to open, but it looks like we&rsquo;re gearing up for a good one. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Ducati options: Martin with Bagnaia, Bastianini to Pramac       

The father of the Desmosedici: "We&rsquo;ll need a few more races to decide". Pernat pushes for Bastianini. And Arbolino...

MotoGP, Dall'Igna: “Bastianini or Martin to leave Ducati? They should think hard”

        We don&rsquo;t know how the situation with the lowering device is going to develop, but it&rsquo;s only fair to speak to those involved. Gigi Dall'Igna is the technical reference at Ducati, in his role as engineer for the MotoGP project. He has this to say: "I would like to say more, but for now no decision has been made in this sense. But I will say that we&rsquo;ve done as we&rsquo;ve always done, or rather, remaining within the parameters of the technical regulation, which was written a while ago. A regulation that all manufacturers are aware of, let&rsquo;s be clear&rdquo;. Gigi draws attention to a move that, were it to become concrete, would meet with disapproval from Borgo Panigale: "Banning a solution developed by a manufacturer would be quite unsportsmanlike. While we&rsquo;ve spent time investing in researching this solution, others have spent time coming up with other solutions, which are not banned. And so it would be a double blow if you like. If it were to happen, it would be unsportsmanlike". Dall'Igna on the Ducati lowering device: not found on production bikes  Dall'Igna expands on the concept, focusing on the reasons for which the device could be banned: "The explanations for abolishing the lowering device are questionable. They talk about safety, but in terms of distraction, the device involves no extra button or knob in addition to what a rider already uses. The rider will do exactly the same things. So I see no reason.&rdquo; Gigi continues: "The other reason has to do with the fact the device is not found on production bikes. This is MotoGP. If we want to argue, then the pneumatic valve should be banned too, because it&rsquo;s not found on road bikes. If our competitors were to ban the pneumatic valve, I&rsquo;d be OK with that". Translated by Heather Watson Qatar GP, Marquez: &ldquo;Bet on me for the title, i'm ready to risk like before&rdquo;       

Ducati engineer Gigi: "We dedicated time and research to developing the part in line with the technical regulation. The device is not dangerous, the rider does the same things as before"

MotoGP, Dall'Igna: “Banning the lowering device would be unsportsmanlike”

        Gigi Dall&rsquo;Igna appears calm and relaxed as he offers his comments ahead of the upcoming MotoGP season. The first test session at Sepang has brought encouraging results, which leaves the team feeling optimistic: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had the first test of the year, and we selected a lot of material there. The focus was not on lap times, but on the work the riders need to do in the garage&rdquo;. The advantage of having eight bikes on track  And initial impressions are positive: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve started developing the new bike and I&rsquo;m quite pleased. There are a few areas where we need to work a little, but I&rsquo;m confident. The next test will be important, because it will be the last before the championship begins&rdquo;. A season that will see the manufacturer on track with eight bikes: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of organisation, it&rsquo;s not a problem&rdquo;. On the contrary, it brings advantages: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important from a technical standpoint. We&rsquo;ll have a lot more data, more information, and not only in terms of development, but also when seeking the best set-up during a race weekend&rdquo;. The aim is to get the job done  Expectations are high, there&rsquo;s no denying it, particularly on Pecco&rsquo;s side of the garage, but Dall&rsquo;Igna clarifies: &ldquo;At the start of the year there&rsquo;s no point giving one rider any advantage over another. It&rsquo;s important to begin at the same level and see what happens. Sometimes the season is different, for many reasons, and I don&rsquo;t think the Ducati team can make the difference at the start&rdquo;. Will the title return to Ducati for the first time in 15 years? The fastest rider at Sepang was Enea Bastianini, who rounded out day one in first place: &ldquo;He did a great job during the tests. Sometimes it&rsquo;s an advantage not having anything to develop. His pace was consistent. If he continues to work like that throughout the season, we&rsquo;ll try to give him our full support of course&rdquo;. Enea is aiming for top five in the championship, and Dall'Igna agrees: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s within his reach. Last year, his problems had to do with qualifying and the first laps of the race. He&rsquo;s taken a big step forward with qualifying, and as for the other aspect, we&rsquo;ll have to see in Qatar&rdquo;. A close connection with the Desmosedici  Bagnaia just missed out on the title last year, meaning that expectations are very high after such an exceptional season finale. Dall&rsquo;Igna jokes: "I would have liked to freeze Pecco and pull him out at the start of the year, he was in incredible shape at the end of the season! Joking aside, I think it&rsquo;s always a mistake to freeze things. All our competitors will have taken important steps forward, and so standing still is never the best way to achieve results". The latest version of the bike has now been unveiled, a bike that Dall'Igna is particularly attached to: "The Desmosedici is like a daughter to me, a creature that evolves and improves each year. I have a very special relationship with the bike and every time it reaches the podium, the first thing I do when it comes back into the garage is kiss it&rdquo;. This is a new version, even better than its predecessor: "We&rsquo;ll be fielding an evolution of two years, particularly in terms of the engine, which we hope will significantly boost the overall performance of the bike&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson Moto2: training injury for Augusto Fernandez       

A new season is just around the corner and the general manager at Ducati Corse has worked hard all winter, as he sets out to bring the manufacturer its first title in 15 years

MotoGP, Dall’Igna: “Pecco? I would have liked to freeze him at the end of 2021”

        Ten years after its last victory at Arag&oacute;n, Ducati was back on top thanks to an extraordinary Francesco Bagnaia who dominated proceedings. The Italian led for the best part of the race before defending himself from an attack by Marc Marquez in the final stages, ultimately winning the duel on the Spaniard&rsquo;s home turf. Compliments from the Ducati boss  An important result both for Pecco, who scores his first MotoGP win, and for Ducati, general manager Gigi Dall&rsquo;Igna admitting: &ldquo;It was an incredible race and I&rsquo;m so pleased. Pecco was sensational! He really did an amazing job, riding impeccably and beating a Marc M&aacute;rquez who proved to be in great shape&rdquo;. Just like a painter  Bagnaia has obtained a result he&rsquo;d been chasing for a while and the Italian manager confirms: &ldquo;This first win was really important to Pecco and he truly deserves it, as do all the Ducati Corse guys, who have worked hard to achieve this victory. I&rsquo;m very happy&rdquo;. He finishes by telling Sky Sport: &ldquo;He painted those turns like Pinturicchio!" A win that will go down in history, and that might not be Bagnaia's only one of the season. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Bagnaia: &ldquo;I don't feel like Valentino Rossi's successor&rdquo;       

The general manager sings the Italian&rsquo;s praises after he scores his first win in the reigning class with a standout performance

5 risultati per 'en gigi dalligna'

MotoGP, irregular pressure? Dall'Igna: “We’ve acted legally”

MotoGP, Dall'Igna: “Bastianini or Martin to leave Ducati? They should think hard”

MotoGP, Dall'Igna: “Banning the lowering device would be unsportsmanlike”

MotoGP, Dall’Igna: “Pecco? I would have liked to freeze him at the end of 2021”

MotoGP Aragon, Dall’Igna: “Bagnaia did an amazing job”