After Pecco Bagnaia’s championship and Enea Bastianini signing onto the official Ducati team, talk of a rivalry between the two has begun, which could end up weakening the team.
But Ducati’s actual problem in 2023 is going to be Jorge Martin, who wasn’t very happy about not being promoted and kept in the Pramac team, where he'll still be racing with Johann Zarco this year.
One of the fastest riders in the MotoGP and very fast in qualifying, Martin paid the price of a certain inconsistency in his performance, while also only getting three podiums in 2022: two second places in Rio Hondo and Barcelona and a third in Motegi.
His final result was just a 9th place in the World Championship, as fifth Ducati rider after Pecco, Enea, Miller, and Zarco. 113 points from Bagnaia and 67 from Bastianini. Not much for aspiring to be in the first team.
This is why Martin will be the real thorn in Ducati’s side. He’ll be racing for himself, in an attempt to attract Yamaha’s attention, since they already discussed his taking Franco Morbidelli’s place.
Is that something he can do? Yes, he can, because his contract with Ducati, as well as Enea’s, stipulates that, under certain circumstances, Jorge can rescind. In this case, Ducati would maintain the first right of refusal.
Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini do have 2023 contracts with Ducati, but without a team indicated, and it doesn’t seem like Gigi Dall’Igna will be granting even just a single year to the Beast for him to get used to the official team.
This makes Martin’s strategy inevitable: he’ll attempt to always be as far ahead as possible so that he will deserve the promotion he didn’t get in 2022.
Moreover, the new 2023 format with the Sprint Race favors him, because Jorge has always been very fast in the early stages of the race, helped by the fact that he’s often one of the best in qualifying. And this year, his the advantage will double because, unlike in the Superbike, the result of the Sprint Race won’t actually affect the starting grid of the Grand Prix.
Also, Davide Tardozzi’s “walks” towards the pit wall of the satellite teams will be useless, since everyone will be free to gamble on their chances.
This makes Jorge Martin a free-lance hunter, whose performances could take away points from the factory Ducati team, which is suffering … from plenty, given that it boasts five top-ten riders. And, with Yamaha looking for a second rider to join Quartararo for its factory team and also for a satellite team, it’ll be difficult for Ducati to be able to keep its team together, within which there are other desirable riders, such as Bezzecchi and Marini.
And we can’t forget the scoop from FIM Presidnet Jorge Viegas who, in December, had thought that the VR46 team was about to abandon Ducati for Yamaha.
There’s no doubt that the start of the championship will be the most delicate phase of Ducati’s attempt to confirm its 2022 “triple crown”.
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