The Ducati Corse technical boss publicly thanked Johann Zarco for his work at the last Thai Grand Prix, where he gave up fighting for third place on the podium in favor of his teammate, Pecco Bagnaia.
Gigi Dall’Igna, accompanied by Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti and Team Principal Davide Tardozzi, went to the Pramac garage after the race to express his thanks to the satellite team. There were also gestures to this effect at the parc fermé , with Bagnaia himself praising such a “gentlemanly” action.
Once the test was over, Gigi Dall’Igna praised “ a tireless Zarco, protagonist of a race finish worthy of a podium position”.
“I would like to thank Johann for not trying to overtake Pecco in the closing stages of the race,” said the Italian. “An overtaking would have been especially risky, given the track conditions. He gave up a podium place that could easily have been within his grasp.”
Johann Zarco, who chained fast laps until he hunted down the official driver, decided of his own accord not to overtake Pecco. It was a personal choice, he said, as the manufacturer did not impose clear team orders. Instead, Borgo Panigale has been insisting for several weeks that a sensible approach be taken and that the #63 not have to take unnecessary risks that could cost it major points.
On the eve of the Thailand race, the topic was on everyone’s lips again when Marco Bezzecchi, another of the brand’s satellite drivers, qualified on pole position . A week after the Italian rider already gave up attacking Bagnaia in Japan, the VR46 team made it clear from the start that caution would be the order of the day so as not to deprive the title contender of scoring as many points as possible.
“We trust the intelligence of the Ducati riders,” Davide Tardozzi told the official MotoGP website. “We know that the Ducati riders know what is good and safe to do. So I don’t think we have anything to say to the Ducati riders because they already know for themselves what they have to do.”
Gigi insisted that the team leader prefers to stay out of team orders : “I think Pecco doesn’t like being helped. It’s something that may happen at the end of the season, in the last race in Valencia, but Pecco has told us several times that he doesn’t like being helped, that he would like to win the championship on his own.”
A podium worth a win
Third place in Buriram is worth its weight in gold as it puts Bagnaia within two points of Quartararo , who struggled in the race and finished outside the points. “It’s like a victory for me,” said the Turin rider, who has a difficult track record in wet conditions. His boss shared his enthusiasm, describing “huge satisfaction” and adding: “This result is a victory, and it’s not about saying the usual platitudes.”
A decisive third place for Pecco Bagnaia?
“Pecco did a masterful job that could be decisive for the championship,” said Gigi Dall’Igna. “A delicate test from a psychological point of view after his mistake in Japan. Bagnaia knew how to keep everything under control and, at the same time, be extremely fast, as he had never been before in such conditions, and against rivals who did not let to challenge him every lap of an endless race. Absolutely great.”
“It gives us enormous motivation and mental strength – we needed it, and we needed it now,” he continued, also celebrating the “great team spirit” of its drivers and the performance of Jack Miller, whose second place joins victory in Japan and “brings you back to the front lines of this season finale.”
“It was an opportunity not to be missed”, added Gigi Dall’Igna, “and so we did: now the result of the championship will depend above all on us. We will have to continue working as we have done up to now, trying to find the necessary speed to win the three races left.”
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