Jorge Lorenzo will say goodbye to Ducati. It looks like the rider from Mallorca will not stay with the Italian manufacturer for 2019. Who wrote this is La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Paolo Ianieri, whose article published on Tuesday 8th May says: “…Lorenzo, the great and expensive bet that everybody, from Ducati to Jorge’s entourage, considers lost.” Currently, the rider who’s most likely to replace him is, surprisingly, Andrea Iannone, who scored two podium finishes in a row (Austin and Jerez) with his Suzuki. But Danilo Petrucci has some chance as well, according to the “Pink Newspaper”.
DOVIZIOSO – Now we’re in May and Ducati has still no certainty about 2019 season. Negotiations with Andrea Dovizioso are currently stalled. “It would be difficult not to consider a separation between Ducati and Dovizioso as a suicide.” says Ianieri. “It should have been quick, but in the last few weeks negotiations have been stalled. What makes it even more complicated, in addition to the gap between Ducati’s proposal and Dovizioso’s requests, is also the strong personality that both Dovizioso e Luigi Dall’Igna have. (here’s what Dall’Igna said) At the moment the rider from Forlì is the second best MotoGP rider after Marquez and he would like to have his leading position fully recognised, after the result he got in the last two years. By contrast, the engineer Luigi Dall’Igna claims his credit for their success.”
ISOLATED – The incredible accident which involved the two Ducati riders at Jerez represents a stab for Ducati’s aspirations. Instead of scoring a well-deserved double podium finish, Dovizioso and Lorenzo scored no points and now the advantage of Marc Marquez in championship standings is considerably bigger. After just 4 GPs Dovizioso has 24 points off Marquez, almost one GP of disadvantage, in spite of Marc scoring zero points in Argentina. Marquez and Honda are currently the best and it will be very difficult to recover. Also because the now the atmosphere is much more nervous than in 2017. And Ducati may race the remaining 15 GPs with two riders, Lorenzo and Dovizioso, who are already isolated in the pits…