Thursday, August 26, 2021

MotoGP: Bagnaia to Factory Ducati, Zarco & Martin to Pramac – Roadracing World Magazine

Ducati Corse announces the official rider line-up of the Ducati Team and the Pramac Racing Team for the MotoGP season 2021

Ducati Corse is proud to announce the names of the four official Ducati riders for the MotoGP World Championship 2021. Francesco Bagnaia will join the official team alongside the already confirmed Jack Miller. At the same time Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín will defend the colors of the Pramac Racing Team for the next season.

Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia, Moto2 World Champion from 2018, made his MotoGP debut last year with the Ducati Desmosedici GP machine of the Pramac Racing Team and this year has shown steadily growing competitiveness and fought for the podium in several GPs. In 2021, the 23-year-old from Piedmont will join his current team-mate Jack Miller in the Ducati team, which is in its seventh season in the premier class.

Jack Miller, 25 years old, Australian rider from Townsville, made his debut at the 2011 World Championship in the 125cc class. After battling for the Moto3 world title in 2014, he moved straight to MotoGP in 2015, taking part in 93 races in this category and for the last three seasons with the Pramac Racing Team.

The two new drivers of the Pramac Racing Team have a total of three world championship titles. Johann Zarco, a 30-year-old Frenchman, won the Moto2 world title in 2015 and 2016 and this year he is racing in MotoGP with Team Esponsorama’s Ducati machine, with which he took pole position and a third place in the race Brno. With him, in the factory-supported team from Borgo Panigale, there will be a rookie in the category, the Spaniard Jorge Martín, 22 years old, Moto3 World Champion 2018 in his current second season in Moto2.

All four official riders will ride the latest version of the Desmosedici GP bikes with the same technical specifications.

Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding: “Racing is an evolving, advanced technology incubator that is a fundamental part of our business. It is important to keep investing in research and development and not be afraid of innovation and renewal in order to be successful. That is why I am delighted to be able to include young and talented drivers who allow us to look to the future with optimism and a constant desire to improve. Jack Miller and Pecco Bagnaia have shown this year that they can exploit the potential of our Desmosedici GP bike and that they deserve this opportunity. Your move to the official team of the Pramac Racing Team, where they both grew up, is proof of the efficient cooperation that connects us with Paolo Campinoti’s team, whom I would like to thank. I am sure that his team will be able to fully exploit the talent of the two new drivers Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín next year. But now we are concentrating on the current season, because we want to achieve the best possible result with our two drivers: Andrea, who was vice world champion with us for three years in a row in these eight years, won 14 GPs and is thus the most successful Ducati driver after Stoner and is still fighting for the world title and Danilo this year. Danilo working hard to fight for the podium again. Together with them we will do everything possible to bring our wonderful adventure together to the best possible conclusion. “

More from a press release from Ducati:

Francesco Bagnaia joins Jack Miller on the Ducati team for the 2021 season

Ducati Corse is pleased to announce that Francesco Bagnaia will defend the colors of the Ducati team in the MotoGP World Championship 2021 alongside the already confirmed Jack Miller. After his first two years in MotoGP at Pramac Racing, the factory-supported team of the manufacturer Borgo Panigale, the 23-year-old from Piedmont will join the official team for the next season.

Born in Turin in 1997, Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia made his debut in the Moto3 World Championship in 2013 and moved up to Moto2 in 2017, where he won the World Championship in this category in 2018 Pramac Racing Team, and this year Pecco won the GP race with his Desmosedici Bike excelled on many occasions and achieved his first podium at the Lenovo Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera, which he finished in second place.

Francesco Bagnaia: “I made the decision to become a Ducati rider before I became Moto2 World Champion in 2018, and they chose me before I knew I would one day be one. It was our bet, because up until that point I was always a fast rider, but I had nothing concrete under my belt: Ducati decided to believe in it before anyone else. We didn’t know what to do next, but until today, if I had to return, I would do it all over again. My MotoGP debut wasn’t easy, but at Ducati they never questioned me: they gave me the support and confidence a rookie needs and they gave me the experience in 2019. I listened to them, I trusted them, together we got to know and understand each other, and now we are a great team. You taught me a method of working that allowed us to take away some nice satisfactions, and I think that’s just the beginning. Today I am the happiest person in the world, for me a dream has come true: to be an official Ducati rider has always been my ambition, and I have succeeded in doing this together with all those who have always believed in me, even when it wasn’t going well. Special thanks go to Claudio Domenicali, Gigi Dall’Igna, Paolo Ciabatti and Davide Tardozzi for their trust, to the Pramac Racing Team, which took me in as a family, and to the VR46 Riders Academy, which has always supported me over the years. “

Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding: “Racing is an evolving, advanced technology incubator that is a fundamental part of our business. It is important to keep investing in research and development and not be afraid of innovation and renewal in order to be successful. That is why I am delighted to be able to include young and talented drivers who allow us to look to the future with optimism and a constant desire to improve. Pecco and Jack have shown this year that they can use the potential of our Desmosedici GP and they deserve this chance. Your move to the official team of the Pramac Racing Team, where they both grew up, is proof of the efficient cooperation that connects us with Paolo Campinoti’s team, whom I would like to thank. But now we are concentrating on the current season, because we want to achieve the best possible result with our two drivers: Andrea, who was vice world champion with us for three years in a row in these eight years, won 14 GPs and is thus the most successful Ducati driver after Stoner and is still fighting for the world title and Danilo this year. Danilo working hard to fight for the podium again. Together with them, we will do everything we can to bring our wonderful adventure to a close. “

More from a press release from Pramac Racing:

Pramac Racing Team together with Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín for the 2021 season

Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín will be the two Pramac Racing Team drivers in the MotoGP World Championship 2021.

An enthusiastic one Paolo Campinoti, Pramac Racing Team Principal, explained: “We are happy to have reached an agreement with Johann and Jorge. We want to continue an important project that gives us great pleasure. The athletic qualities and the winning mentality of the two drivers are well known, and expectations are accordingly high. We know Johann well and have a very positive feeling about him: It will also be the same with Jorge. “

Johann Zarco (Cannes, July 16, 1990) is a French rider, two-time Moto2 world champion in 2015 and 2016.

Jorge Martín Almoguera (Madrid, January 29, 1998) is a Spanish rider who won the Moto3 World Championship in 2018. 2021 will be his first MotoGP championship season in the premier class.

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