MotoGP – Ducati goes to war against Honda!

Bruno Gomes

March 14, 2019

Ducati Spoiler in MotoGP | Photo credits: Lalasport

By now you’ve probably noticed that the MotoGP season has just started, and things are running pretty hot within the World Championship paddock. Everything started with four manufacturers complaining against Ducati decision to use a rear tyre “spoiler”, supposedly to cool down the tyre, at the Qatar GP, and when Andrea Dovizioso won the race, a formal protest was delivered to Race Direction.

The final decision about the legality of the Ducati “spoiler” is yet to be known, as an FIM Court is still deciding on what that element does when installing on the Ducati Desmosedici GP19. If it gives Ducati an aerodynamic advantage, then the “spoiler” is illegal, and the MotoGP race results will need to be changed.

But until the FIM Court gives a final decision about this, two manufacturers are set to go to war against each other: Ducati vs Honda.

Speaking to SkySport Italy, Gigi Dall’Igna says that “I’m very surprised for Honda’s behavior. Up until now, all the disputes have been addressed inside the MSMA association or by talking to the MotoGP technical director. The fact that Honda made a complaint against us and questioned the technical director choices, leaves us wondering if we shouldn’t complain about Honda wings that in our opinion are dangerous. The connection of the wings to the fairings is too thin, and given the load that they need to take, they deform and may be considered like moving winglets. We never thought about this, but if someone, especially Honda, continues to question the technical director choices, then we might consider presenting a protest against Honda in the next races”.

For now, Honda hasn’t replied to Gigi Dall’Igna comments, but given the importance and that this is a “hot” subject in MotoGP right now, we’re guessing that someone from Honda won’t wait too long to reply to Ducati Corse General Manager.