‘Honda missed possibility to sign Gigi Dall’Igna out of arrogance!’ | MotoGP

Dall’Igna has been general manager at Ducati for nine years when he started, and still oversees, the Desmosedici project.

And while Dall’Igna can take credit for the best bike on the MotoGP grid which looks set to win two championships in a row, Honda are struggling with arguably the worst machine.

Alberto Puig, the Repsol Honda team manager, “had in his hands the possibility of hiring the guru of the paddock,” El Periodico report.

But the fantasy move fell apart.

Honda were “scared in the last moment,” the report claims. 

“Out of haughtiness, out of arrogance – they think that no one can teach them anything.”

Puig now “lives in despair,” the report continues.

“Biting his tongue all day, repressing himself to comment on what he thinks.

“Puig is tired, fed up.”

The difference in the machinery at Ducati and Honda could not be starker.

Puig has watched his two factory riders, Marc Marquez and Joan Mir, complete just one grand prix each this season, after 10 rounds.

Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia, meanwhile, is vying for a second consecutive MotoGP title with his closest challenger, Pramac’s Jorge Martin, also riding a latest-spec Desmosedici – the crown jewel of Dall’Igna’s career.