After the separation of Red Bull KTM and Pol Espargaró at the end of the year, the Austrians need a new team leader for the approx. 30 million MotoGP project. In Italy there is speculation that Andrea Dovizioso will switch to KTM. But according to extensive research by SPEEDWEEK.com, there is no sign of a transfer of the 14-time MotoGP winner and three-time vice world champion to Mattighofen or Munderfing.
Dovizioso’s personal manager Simone Battistella asked Aprilia and KTM about the plans for 2021, but no concrete negotiations took place. So far, there is no offer from these two factory teams.
“It is my job as a driver manager to examine all possibilities,” is the motto of Battistella, who negotiated seriously with Repsol-Honda two years ago before Jorge Lorenzo was hired there.
“Dovi” always said that he would never drive as long as Rossi, for example. He also said that at his age, changing teams and brands would only make sense if it was a project for several years.
If you take a look at the available strong MotoGP riders, you have to leave out Rossi (stays with Yamaha) and Zarco (no longer wanted with KTM).
Then theoretically the test drivers Jorge Lorenzo (but he doesn’t want to drive a full season) and Dani Pedrosa come into consideration. Pedrosa was requested by KTM in August 2019 when it was about the Johann Zarco successor. The three-time world champion (1x 125 ccm, 2x 250 ccm) and 31-time MotoGP winner waved back then. So far, he has not even wanted to contest a wildcard at KTM, even though he showed third best time on the second day of the Sepang test in February.
Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati Sports Director for MotoGP and Superbike, would not be surprised to see Pedrosa return. «Dani had enough at Honda after 13 years. But now he faces a changed situation. »
The fact is: KTM needs a new team leader, since even Miguel Oliveira has only had one MotoGP year of the existing drivers. The other two are rookies, Binder and Lecuona, they have no GP experience in the premier class and have not been able to contribute much to bike development.
Nobody can really imagine that Jorge Lorenzo is going to KTM at the moment. Because the Mallorcan enjoys his part-time job as a test driver at Yamaha and only wanted to do a wildcard in 2020 in Barcelona. A commitment from Jorge Lorenzo would make little sense for KTM, because he already had enough problems with the aggressive V4 concept at Honda.
And KTM CEO Stefan Pierer said one and a half years ago: «I’m not interested in a Marc Márquez. If he wins, it’s Marquez, and if he loses, it’s my bike. I’m also not interested in drivers like Lorenzo, who only change because of the driver’s fee. »
Ducati has only one driver under contract at Ducati Corse and Pramac-Ducati for the coming season: Jack Miller will take a place in the Ducati factory team after 2020.
Even the deal between Jorge Martin and Ducati has not yet been signed. Pecco Bagnaia (previously Pramac Ducati) is also still waiting for an offer.
Although Jorge Martin is not quite fixed at Pramac-Ducati, the Reds have no intention of bringing Petrucci back to Pramac after two years. Ciabatti: «That makes no sense at all. That would not be good for Danilo either. Pramac is our junior team. We temporarily released Danilo to see if there was any interesting MotoGP option for him. »
Ciabatti wants to stay out of the driver choice at KTM. But he wouldn’t mind if the Austrians chose Petrucci. «Danilo is a very good driver, a super nice guy and a tireless hard worker. Maybe he’s not a future world champion. But he has been used to the V4 concept for many years, ”Ciabatti states.
To date, KTM has mostly hired MotoGP riders from Yamaha (Pol Espargaró, Smith, Syahrin, Zarco). “I will no longer take a Yamaha driver in the future,” said KTM race director Pit Beirer after the disaster with Johann Zarco.
A former Ducati factory driver like Petrucci could bring in valuable technical suggestions and input for the engineers at KTM Factory Racing in Munderfing. Ciabatti: «Maybe Danilo will find a chance at KTM. Maybe there will be an option with Aprilia if Iannone is not available due to the lock. »
Ducati is still behind the World Cup sixth and famous Mugello winner Petrucci. “We offered him to ride in our Superbike factory team in 2021,” confirmed Ciabatti. “He can take this into account if there is no place in the MotoGP class. We want to keep him in the family. But unfortunately we cannot do more for him, because we have no place for him in MotoGP. He was a MotoGP factory rider for two years and Pramac helps us build young riders. Danilo is 29 years old. It was never our intention to send a driver back to Pramac after two years in the factory team. »
The Petrucci family has close ties to KTM. The dad of the same name, Danilo Petrucci, worked in the two-stroke era (125 and 250 cc) at Red Bull-KTM as a truck driver, cook and girl for everything. He still greets every Austrian today with “Servas”. And junior “Petrux” is happy to try to recite individual, coherent German sentences.
Ducati already has specific ideas for the driver lineup at Pramac – with Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. “That would be a very good team with younger talents,” Ciabatti confirmed today in an interview with SPEEDWEEK.com.
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