#Motogp 21 roadmap how to#
#Motogp 21 roadmap trial#

In conclusion, there is nothing ‘silly’ about Ducati’s impending ‘silly season’. It’s a temptation Ducati is going to find hard to resist even if observers might point out that it shouldn’t allow itself a case of FOMO (fear of missing out) if it focuses on what it already has.Īnd to think, we haven’t even started on Johann Zarco, who despite another win-less season was Ducati’s top candidate for much of the year, while Marco Bezzecchi has all the qualities - and backing - to ‘do a Bastianini’ in 2022. New champion Quartararo has left the door ever so slightly ajar on alternative deals beyond Yamaha for 2023 and made it rather clear emails to him won’t necessarily bounce back… Not only that, Ducati won’t just be looking within. In the meantime, the likes of Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha might be able to catch the attention of Miller, Martin and Bastianini if it can assure them factory-machinery and/or a more defined roadmap going forward if Ducati hesitates.

#Motogp 21 roadmap how to#

Indeed, Ducati could find itself in a tricky bargaining position if it does wait until the start of the 2022 season to decide on how to shuffle its assets for 2023. Mistakes were frequent - perhaps understandable for a rookie - while his less headline grabbing results weren’t all that sparkling either. That said, dig beneath the statistics and there are some doubts Martin is ready for Ducati red come 2023. The Spaniard had no business landing a pole position and podium in only his second MotoGP race, before he did what Miller, Bagnaia and countless others had failed to do in previous years by taking Pramac Racing to the top of the podium in Austria.įour pole positions, four podiums and one win was an excellent return on an injury-hampered rookie campaign. It doesn’t help either that Martin emerged as one of the breakthrough riders of 2021. What wasn’t expected and what hasn’t helped Miller is Bagnaia emerging as the firm’s top candidate.

#Motogp 21 roadmap trial#

In Miller’s defence, 2021 should have been a trial run in the shadow of Dovizioso during which he proved a better foil than the outgoing Danilo Petrucci - something he comfortably achieved - before targeting the title in 2022, but those plans were thrown awry. Miller is an investment Ducati won’t want to throw away but right now it is neck-and-neck in the betting odds as to whether it will be him or Martin it wants on the scarlet Ducati GP23. Thereafter Miller didn’t look like he was fighting for wins anywhere else, allowing Bagnaia to steal a march on what should have been the Aussie’s team leader status by the year’s end. He started the year well with back-to-back wins, though they came with some fortune after Fabio Quartararo pumped him arm down the order in Jerez and Le Mans was a wet weather free-for-all. It’s fair to say Miller’s long-awaited first season as a factory rider didn’t meet expectations. For now, only two seats beyond 2022 are assured - Franco Morbidelli at Yamaha and Marc Marquez at Honda, though the latter might be dependent on his increasingly worrisome fitness levels. If Bagnaia is a nailed-on certainty to stay with Ducati for 2023 and beyond, then things are a little more uncertain in a Ducati talent pool that is taking on another two riders in 2022.Īs it stands, Ducati faces a dilemma in deciding whether to wait until the 2022 MotoGP season has started to decide on its line-up for 2023. The 2022 MotoGP season is a long way from starting but now is the time managers earn their 15% with negotiations for 2023 beginning in earnest.

Bagnaia threw away two crucial successes at Mugello and Misano, while his qualifying performances in the early half of the year left a lot to be desired.ĭiving into the Ducati MotoGP talent pool Look at it from a more cynical point of view though and Ducati should have won the 2021 MotoGP World Championship over Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha. That never transpired and Bagnaia repaid the faith shown by Ducati with a tremendous year, one that really gathered momentum in the closing stages. Then Dovizioso called it quits, and yet there was talk of Zarco being promoted above Bagnaia.

There is no doubting the Italian’s talent even if his first two seasons in MotoGP were peppered with enough dips in form and errors to warrant what should have been a third season on the Pramac bike. To an extent Bagnaia’s success in 2021 presents a problem for Ducati in 2022. But that doesn’t mean it can’t afford to rest on its laurels. Ducati would rather be in a situation where it is playing a game of chess with too many pieces than not enough. The hangover of a fantastic MotoGP season