Despite the loss of the two Desmosedici GPs currently ridden by Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli, the Italian manufacturer will remain the manufacturer with the largest presence on the starting grid, which will however be more balanced. In addition to the six Ducatis, the other manufacturers (Honda, Yamaha, Aprilia and KTM) will contribute four bikes each, once Yamaha gets its long-awaited satellite team back.
This Sunday, Gigi Dall’Igna, general manager of Ducati Corse, revealed that, in view of 2025, it has been decided to forgo one of the four prototypes in the latest specification. “We want to put three official bikes and three from the previous year on the track. This is the objective,” he told Sky Sport MotoGP.
This change of strategy means that, in addition to Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia, the pair that will share the Reds’ garage for the next two years, only a third Desmosedici GP25 will be produced, which will go to the VR46 team, which has not yet announced the identity of its riders. However, Dall’Igna’s logic and precedents suggest that the rider who receives it will not be a MotoGP rookie, because the engineer is convinced of the advantages of meritocracy. In other words, whoever wants the most competitive Ducati will first have to prove that he is worthy of it.
It is therefore striking that, at a time when the competition has become closer, especially in the case of Aprilia and, to a lesser extent, KTM, Ducati has chosen to eliminate from the equation one of the bikes that, on paper, offers the best performance as it is the most advanced model.
The fact is that the Borgo Panigale company has been engaged since the beginning of the year in a process of cost containment, which has been rampant in recent years in the eyes of its administrative division. “The global economic situation is forcing us to be very careful about the amounts we invest in racing. We are trying to return to more sustainable figures in terms of team management and rider salaries,” acknowledged Mauro Grassilli, Ducati’s sporting director, in a conversation with Motorsport.com a few days ago.
It is in this sense that the arm wrestling with Pramac should be interpreted, before Paolo Campinoti’s team decided to switch to Yamaha. And also that the four riders currently in the squad (Bagnaia, Bastianini, Martin and Morbidelli), in 2025 will probably become only three: Bagnaia, Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer.
At the moment, for 2025, the only two riders who are guaranteed a “pata negra” Ducati are Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Since 2012, Ducati has been part of the Audi group, which monitors the MotoGP budget. Although all large companies, including Audi, have medium-term forecasts (three to five years), the financial areas carry out constant reviews, which can be monthly or bimonthly, to have a more detailed control of the situation and discuss any unforeseen events.
In this case, one of Ducati’s top executives, probably CEO Claudio Domenicai, will have to ask for an extraordinary item, even if this is always avoided, because it suggests that the management was not the best.
Ducati has committed to providing VR46 with a GP25 under the agreed conditions. If they wanted a second one, the Tavullia team would have to face a considerable outlay, which they certainly do not consider convenient, given the good level offered by the current GP24. Even less so if, on paper, they do not have two riders capable, both, of fighting to win races regularly, or of fighting for the title. But, beyond this, with this maneuver – the loss of an official bike -, what Ducati is trying to do is make a mathematical formula work.
Considering that Ducati sells its entire stock to satellite teams – both current and previous year’s units – the company’s goal is to be able to allocate the most advanced bikes to customers the following year. Losing Pramac, if Ducati were to supply VR46 with two factory bikes in 2025, it would not be able to make one of them profitable the following year, because Gresini would have difficulty affording the necessary amount of money, especially since it is still without a main sponsor despite Marquez.
#MotoGP #Heres #Ducati #factory #bikes
