Faced with increasingly persistent rumors, Davide Tardozzi has finally broken his silence. The Ducati team principal categorically denied that Francesco Bagnaia used a full GP24 during his triumph at Motegi, while indirectly confirming the use of hybrid components on the Italian champion's bike.
After a team communication VR46 who played the role of the fly in the ointment in this affair, consciously or unconsciously, the journalist Mat Oxley had thrown a spanner in the works by stating about X: " rumors are now circulating in the paddock that Bagnaia would have raced a GP24 at Motegi. » His analysis was unequivocal: “ Ducati's silence does not help them in this matter"
Directly questioned on Sky by Zam, Tardozzi opposed a reasoned objection: “ If we had raced with the GP24 engine, we would have broken the rules, which Ducati does not do. The engine that was in Japan is therefore a GP25."
His main argument is based on approval: “ The GP24 and GP25 engines have two different homologations. We cannot afford to use the GP24 engine."
Davide Tardozzi: “ If we had raced with the GP24 engine, we would have broken the regulations, which Ducati does not do. »
Si Tardozzi denies the use of the GP24 engine, his silence on the other components is eloquent. By insisting only on the engine, the manager Ducati suggests that the GP24 chassis was indeed used, the 2024 fork was present and that last year's swingarm was fitted to the bike.
By denying the most sensitive point (the engine) while ignoring the other elements, Tardozzi adopts a clever position. It avoids the risk of technical disqualification and indirectly confirms the hybrid approach.
Despite these denials, the dizzying fall of bagnaia Mandalika continues to raise questions. If the bike was legal and efficient in Japan, why this collapse a week later?
Tardozzi said the essential without saying everything. bagnaia probably did not race with a full GP24, but rather with a maximum hybrid configuration exploiting all the regulatory margins of the MotoGPA half-hearted admission that explains both the Japanese resurrection and the Indonesian rout, while maintaining Ducati in the gray area that makes it successful.
