Both Gino Borsoi, Pramac team manager, and the manager of Jorge Martin, one of the interested riders, have indicated the Italian Grand Prix, which will take place next weekend, as the ideal date for Ducati to make a decision on who will be the driver who will join Pecco Bagnaia in the red box. In addition to the Spaniard, the current owner, Enea Bastianini, and Marc Marquez are also in the running, and with his results he is eating away at the competition.
The decision is expected shortly, especially because the move largely depends on Pramac’s renewal for two seasons with the Bolognese manufacturer, rejecting the offer to become a satellite team of Yamaha. Decision that should be communicated to the managers of the Japanese company during the Italian weekend. A move which, in turn, would also affect the VR46 Racing Team and Gresini Racing, the other two teams with the Bolognese bikes.
We’ll have to wait beyond Mugello
However, over the weekend in Barcelona, Ducati put the brakes on any possibility of revealing its decision immediately. “We have never said that we will announce it at Mugello. What we have always said is that, starting from Mugello, we will begin to understand what the decision will be”, the communications office of the Italian team told Motorsport.com.
Jorge Martín and Marc Márquez are currently the two main candidates for a move to the official Ducati team.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
A line that was fully confirmed by the team’s technical manager, Gigi Dall’Igna, certainly one of the most influential people in the decision, together with the CEO Claudio Domenicali.
“In the past I have had much worse headaches. It’s a problem, yes, but all in all it’s a good problem,” Dall’Igna explained in an interview with the newspaper El País.
“We can be proud of having reached this point, it means that we have worked very well in the past to be at this level and we have to choose among the best riders,” he adds, without excluding anyone for the moment.
“The decision will come soon, but then contracts are always complicated and negotiations can take longer than expected. We will need time to implement the idea, make it a reality and then communicate it to the public”, warned Dall’Igna, leaving it open the possibility of not letting anything leak before the summer break in July.
The new Ducati sporting director, Mauro Grasilli, speaking to Italian TV, was of the same opinion. “The decision is as difficult as it was at the start of the championship. We are already starting to lay some important foundations and are on the right track. But there will be no announcement at Mugello”, ruled out the Italian manager.
Luigi Dall’igna, Ducati Team
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
#MotoGP #Ducati #rules #revealing #rider #Mugello
