Radical turn in Ducati’s strategy in finding Bagnaia’s partner

“The MotoGP market is stagnant until Ducati moves”, recently pointed out Davide Brivio, sports director of Trackhouse Racing Aprilia. And there is no shortage of reason. With most drivers on the grid still out of contract for next season, The dance won’t begin until Ducati decides which rider will join Pecco Bagnaia on the official team.

Marc Márquez, Jorge Martín and Enea Bastianini are the three names used by Borgo Panigale. One of the three will wear red on Ducati Lenovo and, from there, the rest of the movements will begin until the grid for 2025 is determined.

He CEO of the Italian manufacturer, Claudio Domenicaliin the statements reported by ‘Corriere della Sera’, assumed that “it is a complicated situation in a good way. The work we did with the drivers in the past created a lot of talent. And, now, also Marc Márquez. On one of our motorcycles, he came back and cleared the doubts of people who think they will never return to the level they were before the injury. Any choice we make will attract criticism, but we have to accept it. We will not mention it out of respect for the pilots involved. It was an almost impossible decision in some ways. It’s hard for Jorge Martín to do better than he did and Márquez is growing in an unusual way. “Bastianini is not leading in the points, but he had a tough race at Le Mans finishing two behind the winner despite the penalty.”

Because of this, the Italian confirmed a radical change in the strategy of choosing Bagnaia’s partner in the official Ducati team: “Internal competition is a stimulus to improve motorcycles as well. Previously, we chose another dynamic, the selection of the first and second driver; but it did not bear fruit. Having two competitive drivers helps keep the level high. “Today we see the best Bagnaia, the best Jorge Martín, the best Marc Márquez and the best Bastianini.”