It’s official now. The Pramac team will no longer be linked to Ducati once this 2024 MotoGP season endsThe Italian team will not be able to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its partnership with the Borgo Panigale team, which began in 2005, after ending it following several weeks of speculation. Thus, they will head to Yamaha, which recovers its satellite team, to which it will give semi-official treatment, like the one they already had at Ducati, aware that they can play a key role in its reconstruction process. current.
Iwata confirmed in a statement that they have reached a multi-year agreement with the structure, which will become an ‘extra’ factory team, that is: 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 Iwata house.
Beyond the fact that the M1 is a worse motorcycle than the Desmosedici, it does not seem like a bad agreement for Pramac, but the truth is that it continues to raise doubts due to how the decision process to end the union with Ducati has been. especially after there was speculation about the possible arrival of Marc Márquez, which would have opened the door to the official team for Jorge Martín. Thus, on the same day that the departure of his team was announced, Paolo Campinotihead of the company, explained in an interview on ‘GPOne’ the reasons that led him to make this decision and associate with Yamaha from 2025.
“What I would like to make clear from the start is that it is not about money.“Campinoti began by saying, denying that it was due to an economic issue.”In fact, in the short term, I will lose, because I will not get [lo mismo] that I have [ahora] from the sponsors. Obviously, I don’t think that [a corto plazo] we can get the same results we were used to.
He then explained the details of the agreement: “It’s a seven-year contract. These two [2025 y 2026] and five with the new motorcycle [que llegará con el nuevo reglamento de MotoGP]. Yamaha has convinced me with its project. They are a glorious brand, which has won a lot, their last title was just three years ago with Fabio Quartararo. They are working a lot, even in Italy, with Marmorini and Max Bartolini [sus recientes fichajes de Ducati]. It won’t be immediate, but they will come back and win, because they always have.“.
Of course, Campinoti could not deny that, although Yamaha had convinced him, he would continue with Ducati if Márquez had joined the team, even though they closed the door on him once the eight-time world champion did the same with them: “Yes, it’s true. If Marquez had said yes to me, I would have welcomed him, also with enthusiasm. How could I do otherwise?“.
“But Ducati’s choice is like getting 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 drivers’ world championship, although we were very close, and we will try again this year“We will continue our mission with young people at Yamaha,” he continued.
When questioned about When exactly he made the decision, the leader referred to the last MotoGP Grand Prix in Italywhere he believes that Ducati could have underestimated the team and Martín after Enea Bastianini passed on the last step of the podium on the last lap.
“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 it. But I decided when I saw that Bastianini’s overtaking of Martin at Mugello aroused incredible enthusiasm in the Ducati garage. I understand Davide Tardozzi, but there was also Claudio Domenicali, everyone, anyway… but why [lo hicieron]Martin is not one of your pilots?“.
After the announcement was made, Campinoti went a little further about the reasons for the departure in an interview with ‘Sky Sport MotoGP’: “We have reached this situation due to a series of circumstances. The team has grown a lot in recent years. years, and we have received many advances, but we have never taken them into account, remaining very faithful to the project. With these latest decisions that Ducati has made, we believe that priorities have changed. They focused on another project: they took Cristiano Ronaldo, resigning from the team“.
“Our project was to develop young drivers, show them a path. This Ducati choice [de fichar a Márquez] It left us a little disoriented, and that’s why we listened with conviction [la oferta de Yamaha]based on the fact that the project that Ducati is doing now is different than we believed in. There was a lack of perspective, because we work towards an objective. The decision not to sign Martin, who leads the World Championship and has already won several races, It is a decision that we do not share. They have taken Cristiano Ronaldo from MotoGP, but Cristiano Ronaldo brings consequences“.
In addition, Campinoti also explained why they will not be a regular satellite team, a concept that is being lost in the heavy motorcycle class: “That concept no longer exists. Look at KTM. In 2025, they will have four official bikes, same sponsors, same colours.. As Pit Beirer said, the first in the driver standings will be the leader. So Pramac will be an extra factory team, with exactly the same bike as Quartararo. In this sense, I did not understand Jorge Martin. [por su decisión de no querer seguir con Pramac y ser piloto de fábrica]What was he missing? He has won races, he leads the championship and, last year, he lost it in the last race, in Valencia.“.
He also spoke about possible signings for next season, as they will not have Martín, and for Franco Morbidelli it would mean returning to Yamaha after his departure: “Who are we going to bring? If you talk to me about Andrea Iannone, you touch my heart directly. I have spoken with him, and I am planning to organize a test with him on the Yamaha. Then we’ll seeIt won’t be easy, because the MotoGP pool is full of sharks now. It’s not their time anymore. The youngsters are going very strong now. But we’ll see. Meanwhile, we are negotiating, and we are close to Fabio Di Giannantonio“, he concluded.
