The market continues to shift, even in Barcelona. The latest rumours in the paddock concern Joan Mir. His split with Honda is reportedly a foregone conclusion, according to the-race.com, and the Majorcan is said to be looking to relaunch his career on a Ducati.
To get on a Ducati, however, there is only one option: the Gresini team. The team led by Nadia Padovani will part ways with Fermin Aldeguer next year (who will move to the VR46 team) and is expected to bring Daniel Holgado into MotoGP. That leaves one seat open.
Enea Bastianini had his eye on that spot, but so did Mir. To secure it, however, Joan would have to settle for a lower salary—certainly far below what he currently earns at HRC. Gresini is, in fact, a privateer team and, although very solid, certainly doesn’t have the financial resources of a factory team.
There is, moreover, another problem. Because if the deal were to go through, Ducati would find itself with 5 Spanish riders for 6 bikes. Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta will be on the factory team, then there will be the aforementioned Holgado and Aldeguer at Gresini and VR46. This could be a stumbling block for Mir’s arrival on the blue bike.
Bastianini, meanwhile, is continuing to look around and hopes that a spot will open up on the Trackhouse team. In that case, Aprilia, unlike Ducati, would have an almost entirely Italian lineup with Bezzecchi and Bagnaia on the main team and Enea on the satellite team.