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

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

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

11.05.2022 16:47

What can we say? Today’s MotoGP brings one surprise after another. While the Suzuki case remains vague, the latest bombshell regards Ducati, specifically Pecco Bagnaia’s win at Jerez. According to a report by colleagues at Motorsport Magazine, the Italian – 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’Igna is keen to respond.

“The minimum permitted pressure is 1.9 bar”, begins Dall’Igna, “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’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’t rule out that other manufacturer haven't done so, pretending to be in the correct pressure window even if they’re not really. Another thing I want to say is that the data acquired by the control body doesn’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 – it’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’ association) set out which sensors all manufacturers will have to use from 2023, once it’s no longer possible to modify them, and alongside the rule, there will also be a clear control system”.

So it is possible that other bikes have raced with a pressure lower than the permitted minimum in other races?

“It’s not possible, it’s certain. We know this, given that the manufacturers share the data. I don’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 ‘problem’. For the front tyre, it’s not easy to fall inside the limits set by Michelin – 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’re working on together with the other manfacturers and Michelin, with a view to 2023”.

Dall'Igna: "No regulatory violation"


How do you explain Ducati coming under attack in this way?

“I can’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’s an agreement between the various parties that means that for this year the data is monitored and then next year we’ll have a rule to activate and control in a proper way.”

It’s strange that the current control system is unclear, don’t you agree?

“That’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’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”.

Is there a real control method right now?

“No, but there can'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’re working to improve the situation. I’m not worried about the next races, as we’re all trying to respect the windows imposed by Michelin”.

So is this unjustified controversy?

“I’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’ve said, the control method is not reliable, and so the current values are worthless, something that all the MSMA manufacturers have acknowledged”.

After all this, will Ducati work in a different way? Or will everything remain the same?

“We’ll continue exactly as we have done until now, because we are fully respecting the rules, as always.”

Translated by Heather Watson

Albesiano: “Aerodynamics in MotoGP? They may impact on the spectacle”

  • Link copiato

Commenti

Leggi motosprint su tutti i tuoi dispositivi