Andrea Dovizioso will spend another two years in the Ducati Corse squad, signing a two-year contract with the Italian team, and announcing it today in Le Mans for the French GP.
That Dovi would sign again with Ducati is unsurprising, though the news took some time to come to fruition, likely as last-year’s MotoGP Championship runner-up wanted a paycheck more in line with what he was doing for Borgo Panigale.
This disparity comes because Andrea Dovizioso was supposed to be the #2 rider in the Ducati MotoGP team, playing second fiddle to Jorge Lorenzo, however that has not been the reality.
The last two seasons have been difficult going for Lorenzo, despite the massive paycheck Ducati cut for the Spaniard, while Dovizioso has shined and brought victory after victory to Ducati Corse’s pit box, though with meager reward.
Now finding amicable terms, Dovizioso and Ducati are ready to continue their work together – a smart move by both parties. Ducati is Dovizioso’s best bet for a MotoGP Championship title, and the same can be said of the Italian rider for the Italian team.
The big question now is where Jorge Lorenzo will land for the 2019 season, and the answer is almost certainly not Ducati. As such, Lorenzo is expect to find himself in the ECSTAR Suzuki garage, alongside Alex Rins, though that is not a done deal.
That move would displace Andrea Iannone however, who left Ducati for Suzuki. Could we see a two-rider switch? It seems unlikely. Iannone’s stock in the MotoGP paddock has been dropping season after season, as the rowdy rider only seems capable of making results when the moment suits him.
Those mercurial results come with Iannone’s generally difficult personality, and his even more troublesome entourage. “Been there, done that” could easily be Ducati’s response to a return of the “Other Andrea”.
Instead, it is much more likely that we will see Danilo Petrucci in the factory Ducati team, but such a move is far from certain. Perhaps the most sought-after seat in the paddock, it will be interesting to see who teams up with Desmo Dovi for 2019 and onward.
Source: Ducati Corse
