“Ducati has signed Cristiano Ronaldo from MotoGP, but this has consequences,” Pramac warns.
Now it’s official. The Pramac team will not remain associated with Ducati after the 2024 MotoGP season.The Italian team will not be able to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its alliance with Borgo Panigale, which began in 2005, ending it after weeks of speculation. They will therefore head to Yamaha, which will bring back its satellite team, with which they will carry out a semi-official regime similar to the one they already had at Ducati, aware that they can play a key role in its reconstruction process. current.
The House of Iwata confirmed in a statement that they have reached a multi-year agreement with the structure, which will become an “additional” factory team, namely: They will have official bikes, the same as the factory team, and the drivers, who have not yet been announced, will be hired directly by the House of Iwata.
Apart from the fact that the M1 is a worse bike than the Desmosedici, it doesn’t seem like a bad deal for Pramac, but the truth is that it continues to raise doubts because of the way the decision-making process to end the alliance with Ducati was handled. especially after rumours emerged about the possible arrival of Marc Marquez, which would open the door for Jorge Martin to join the official team.. So, on the same day that his team’s departure was announced, Paolo Campinotithe head of the company, explained in an interview with GPOne the reasons that prompted him to make such a decision and cooperate with Yamaha from 2025.
“I would like to make it clear from the start that this is not about money.“Campinoti began by denying that this happened for economic reasons.”Essentially, in the short term, I will lose because I won’t get (what) I have (now) from sponsors.. Obviously, I don’t think (in the short term) we’ll be able to get the same results we’re used to.”
He then explained the details of the agreement: “This is a seven-year contract. These two (2025 and 2026) and five on a new bike (which will appear in accordance with the new MotoGP rules). Yamaha convinced me with their project. They are a nice brand that have won a lot, their last title was just three years ago with Fabio Quartararo. They work a lot, even in Italy, with Marmorini and Max Bartolini (their recent contract with Ducati). It won’t be right away, but they will come back and win because they always have“.
Of course, Campinoti couldn’t deny that although Yamaha convinced him, he would have continued with Ducati if Marquez had joined the team, even though they closed the door on him as soon as the eight-time world champion did the same with them: “Yes it’s true. If Marquez had said yes, I would have welcomed him, also enthusiastically. How could I do anything else?“.
“But the choice Ducati made was like buying Cristiano Ronaldo. Pramac, on the other hand, was created to support the growth of young riders.We did it with Andrea Iannone, Jack Miller, Danilo Petrucci, Pecco Bagnaia or Jorge Martin. We were not born to win the World Drivers’ Championship, although we were very close to it, and we will try again this year.“We will continue our mission with the Yamaha youth,” he continued.
When asked about When exactly he made the decision, the leader referred to the last MotoGP Grand Prix in Italy.where he believes Ducati managed to put the team and Martin down after Enea Bastianini passed on the last lap for the final podium spot.
“I held back for a long time because of my personal and deep friendship with Gigi Dall’Igna. It took me a while to digest this. But I made my decision when I saw that Bastianini’s overtaking of Martin at Mugello caused incredible enthusiasm in the Ducati garage. I understand Davide Tardozzi, but there was also Claudio Domenicali, at least all of them… but why (they did this) Martin is not one of their drivers?“.
After the announcement was made, Campinoti went a little further about the reasons for the departure in an interview with Sky Sport MotoGP: “We found ourselves in this situation due to a number of circumstances. The team has grown a lot in recent years. years, and we received many advances, but never took them into account, remaining very faithful to the project. We believe that with these latest decisions made by Ducati, the priorities have changed. They focused on another project: they took on Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the team.“.
“Our project was to educate young drivers, show them the way. This choice by Ducati (to sign Marquez) confused us a little bit, and that is why we listened with confidence (to Yamaha’s offer), based on the fact that the project that Ducati is currently working on is different from others. than what we believed. There was a lack of perspective because we work for a goal. The decision not to sign Martin, who is leading the World Championship and has already won several races, This is a decision we do not share. Cristiano Ronaldo was taken out of MotoGP, but there are consequences for Cristiano Ronaldo“.
In addition, Campinoti also explained why they will not be a regular satellite team, a concept that is lost in the heavy bike class: “This concept no longer exists. Look at KTM. In 2025 they will have four official bikes, the same sponsors and the same colors.. As Piet Beirer explained, the leader will be first in the pilots’ standings. So Pramak will be an additional factory team with exactly the same bike as Quartararo. In this sense, I did not understand Jorge Martin (due to his decision not to want to continue with Pramac and become a factory driver). What was he missing? He won races, leads the championship, and last year lost it at the last test in Valencia.“.
He also spoke about possible contracts for the next campaign, since they will not have Martin and for Franco Morbidelli it will be a return to Yamaha after his departure: “Who are we going to invite? If you talk to me about Andrea Iannone, you will touch my heart. I have spoken to him and am planning to arrange a test with him on the Yamaha. Then we’ll see. It won’t be easy because the MotoGP pool is full of sharks right now. This is no longer your time. Young people are very strong now. But we’ll see. In the meantime, we are in negotiations and close to Fabio Di Giannantonio.“, he concluded.