Gigi Dall'Igna wanted a small electric motor bolted to Ducati's 2027 MotoGP bike. He didn't get it, however, and the reason came down to money.
As told to Grandepremio.com, the Ducati Corse General Manager confirmed he lobbied for hybridization in MotoGP's next regulatory era, only to see the idea shelved when the manufacturers weighed the price. "Honestly, I would have liked to have a small electric motor on the 2027 bike. In the beginning, I pushed to have that type of hybridization on the motorcycle. But from a cost perspective, it is certainly quite difficult."
His interest was rooted in what a hybrid layout could teach the engineering side. "I think we could learn something from it. Creativity becomes important again when you introduce that type of solution," he said.
Hybrid power aside, the 2027 rulebook still amounts to a full reset. MotoGP drops from 1000cc to 850cc, bans ride-height and holeshot devices outright, tightens aerodynamic limits, and swaps long-time tire supplier Michelin for Pirelli. As a result, for a design office, that combination effectively forces a clean-sheet machine. Dall'Igna's read is that very little of the current Desmosedici hardware will survive the transition. That bike has been the class benchmark, taking four straight riders' titles with Francesco Bagnaia in 2022 and 2023, Jorge Martín in 2024, and Marc Márquez in 2025. None of that pedigree, however, translates into carryover parts.
"The most important thing is the knowledge you possess. That, for sure, carries over into the future. But there aren't many physical components that can be used, because with the ban on ride-height devices, a different engine capacity, and different tires, in the end you have to build a completely new bike," he explained.
That's a daunting position for any manufacturer, but Dall'Igna framed it as the part of the job he relishes. "It certainly excites me. When you can start from a blank sheet of paper, for an engineer, that is the best toy that can exist," he said. The first real look at the new formula on track is close. Another private test featuring 850cc prototypes is scheduled for next month in Austria, giving teams their earliest hardware validation ahead of the wholesale change. For now, attention stays on the 2026 title fight. The championship resumes August 28-30 with the Aragon Grand Prix at MotorLand Aragón, Round 13 of the season.
The hybrid decision is the more telling development for anyone tracking where the premier class is headed. MotoGP has spent recent seasons layering on technology, ride-height devices chief among them, but the 2027 package moves in the opposite direction by stripping several of those systems out. A hybrid element would have added a new layer of complexity and expense at precisely the moment the paddock chose to simplify. Dall'Igna's willingness to argue for it anyway says something about how he and Ducati approach problem-solving, even if the rest of the grid wasn't prepared to sign the check.
Whether hybridization resurfaces in a later rules cycle remains an open question. For 2027, however, the challenge is conventional in its ingredients but wide open in its execution: smaller engines, fewer aids, a new tire, and a blank sheet of paper that every factory now has to fill.
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