DUCATI ANNOUNCE 2021 RIDER LINE-UP
Ducati announce 2021 rider line-up – Photo: LAT
Ducati has finally announced that Francesco Bagnaia will join Australian Jack Miller at the factory team, as well as confirming the two riders for Pramac Racing.
By DAN McCARTHY
As speculated for many months Italian ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia will make the move up to the factory Ducati team along with his current Pramac Racing teammate, Queenslander Miller.
This leaves two vacancies at the satellite Pramac Ducati squad which will be filled by current Avintia Ducati rider Johann Zarco and 2018 Moto3 champion Jorge Martin.
Bagnaia has had a rollercoaster season to date which has seen him take his maiden podium finish, suffer an injury that saw him miss three races and crash out of the lead of the Emilia Romagna and Rimini’s Coast Grand Prix.
However, Ducati are confident that they have seen enough potential in the 23-year-old to promote him to the factory Ducati Corse squad.
“Today I am the happiest person in the world,” Bagnaia said. “For me it is a dream come true, being an official Ducati rider has always been my ambition and I have succeeded together with all those who have always believed in me even when things did not go right.
“Special thanks to Claudio Domenicali, Gigi Dall’Igna, Paolo Ciabatti and Davide Tardozzi for their trust, to the Pramac Racing Team who welcomed me like a family and to the VR46 Riders Academy which has always supported me over the years.”
After the opening lap disappointment of crashing at Turn 2 and taking out championship contender and factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso on Sunday, Frenchman Zarco has been awarded for his efforts throughout the season with a promotion to Pramac Racing.
This will be a real boost for the two-time Moto2 World Champion and seven-time MotoGP podium finisher.
After leaving the factory KTM team before the season concluded last year Zarco was thrown a lifeline by the Avintia Ducati squad for 2020. Zarco proved he still has the pace by taking a pole position and a podium finish on the satellite bike and earned himself a ride with Pramac Ducati.
An elated Martin will step up from Moto2 to make his debut in the premier class in 2021, the Spaniard has had a breakout season in the second-tier series with a win and two other podium finishes.
“It’s official! Next year I will be racing in MotoGP with the best riders of the world,” Martin said on Instagram.
“I cannot thank enough, all the people that helped me during all my career, thanks Ducati Corse and Pramac Racing for the opportunity!”
Pramac Racing team owner Paolo Campinoti is delighted to welcome the two new riders to the team.
“We are happy to have reached the agreement with Johann and Jorge,” Campinoti said.
“We want to continue an important project that is giving us great satisfaction. The sporting qualities and the winning mentality of the two riders are extremely well known, expectations are therefore high.
“We know Johann well and we have a very positive feeling with him: the same will be with Jorge.”
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