Ducati ultimatum to Marco Bezzecchi - choose Valentino Rossi, or a ‘24 Desmosedici

The Mooney VR46 rider wants a factory bike next season, which Ducati admit he deserves after a breakthrough season where he has already won two MotoGP grands prix and emerged as a title contender.
But he can’t have a 2024 Desmosedici if he remains with 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Valentino Rossi’s squad.
“Honestly, there's a possibility he'll join Pramac, but it's not꧑ certain,” Ducati sporting ✨director Paolo Ciabatti told .
“On the one hand, Pramac has ♌the contractual option ofಞ getting current factory machines for both riders. And if they exercise that option, we have to respect that.
“And for internal reasons we can only equip four riders with current factory machines. Building more bikes like th🔯is is too co✱mplicated.
“We did that for 2022, it didn't work. At that time, Luca Marini got a fifth factoꦆry Ducati.”
This season, Pramac duo 🐭Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco have the latest-spec Ducati machinery, along with factory pair Francesco Bagnaia anඣd Enea Bastianini.
Bezzecchi’s wish for a better bike would t🧜herefore mean switching teams, probably at the cost of Zarco.
This difficult c💜hoice may mean Bezzecchi prefers to stay with Rossi’s squad.

“The VR46 crew is❀ doing a great job,” Ciabatti said.
🌱“And in Bezzecchi they have a rider that they have built up from the Moto2 W🐻orld Championship. The team works very well, they are happy about strong races, two grands prix have already been won in 2023.
“The technical team with Matteo Flamigni and all t𒉰he guys is very powerful.
“Now the rider has to consider changඣing teams to get the latest bike.
“But he is also🌠 considering staying with VR46 because he knows the team and finds a perfect situation there.
“How he decides remains a question mark.
“And we don't want to force him ꦫto make a decision.
“We know he very much deserves a V𓆉R46 factory bike.
“But we only have four - and we haꦑve to honour 𒉰the contract with Pramac.”
An extra subplot is the potential for Rossi to take his Mooney V🔯R46 team f🅘rom Ducati to Yamaha, the team synonymous with his own glory, in 2025.
Thi𓂃s would complicate Bezzecchi’s situation beyond 2024 ܫif he remained with Mooney VR46.
Bezzecchi came second in the sprint race at the British MotoGP, but then 💟crashed out of the grand prix from second-place, conceding ground in the title fight with Bagn💛aia and Martin.

James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to 🌼football, to F1.