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After the first five rounds of the championship, there are five Ducati riders in the first six places in the MotoGP rider standings. A monopoly that sees Francesco Bagnaia at the top of the rankings, with a one-point lead over the Mooney VR46 team rider, Marco Bezzecchi. The first of the four satellite riders of the Borgo Panigale manufacturer, who at the beginning of the season are giving more than one headache to Pecco’s official red bike, also closely marked by the two riders of the Pramac Racing team, Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco, 4th and 5th in the rankings 14 and 28 points behind.
A satellite rider has never managed to win the world championship in the premier class since the year MotoGP was introduced in 2002, but the music could drastically change in this year’s championship, as the current Pramac Racing team manager Gino Borsoi, convinced that his team has all it takes to get their hands on the world title, has recognized.
"Pramac is a 'disguised' satellite team, it's an official structure: the riders are Ducati riders, the bikes are the same as those used by the factory team, some of the men are from Ducati, so we can consider it an official structure in every sense - explained the ex-rider during an interview on the Motorsport.com podcast - I think Dorna has worked a lot in recent years to allow a satellite team to win the World Championship and we are seeing the first signs of it. Today the difference between the teams and the bikes is minimal and this is what allows any team to think they can win the championship."
An idea supported precisely by the philosophy with which Ducati is fielding its eight bikes: "VR46 leads the team standings, Pramac is second: we are in the Ducati era and fortunately we have entered a period in which the brand is giving us the chance to fight for victories. It wasn't like that before. There were many difficulties, especially for the brand's satellite teams, who couldn't even think of fifth place" commented the manager from the Veneto, who intends to fight to the very end with Paolo Campinoti's team.
Although the mission is not going to be easy, the Pramac team has shown that it can aim high and that is exactly what it will try to do, even if this means fighting with the official Borgo Panigale riders.
“I think Pramac has an incredible opportunity this year; it's very difficult for an independent team to have all the ingredients together at the same time to fight for something big: riders, bike, team. It doesn't happen that many times and now the difficulty is putting it all together and coming out with the best result possible. Obviously Ducati won't make things easy for us and it will be even stronger with the return of Enea Bastianini, but the possibility exists and until the end I won't stop thinking that it isn't impossible to achieve - underlined Gino - When I spoke to Paolo Ciabatti, Davide Tardozzi and, in particular, Gigi Dall'Igna, I have always been very clear. Obviously they are the factory team, we are the 'official satellite', but I like to think that we are at the same level, in terms of material and, above all, the speed of the riders. I would like to make it difficult for them until the end of the year and I have told them very clearly. I'm very sorry, but I won't be there just to help the factory team, I'll try if I can."
