When in 2016, Ducati decided to hire a top rider, Jorge Lorenzo obtained a two-year contract providing 12,5 million euros per season, and therefore there was little money left to pay his teammate. While Andrea Iannone was let go, Andrea Dovizioso saw his salary drop from around three million a year to less than half, according to tuttomotoriweb.com. Fortunately for Dovi, the bonuses were comfortable.
First of all, what is a bonus? This is the random part of the pilot's remuneration, which depends on his results. The bonuses are added to the minimum guaranteed sum, which the driver receives regardless of his performance. There are bonuses for race results and for final championship position.
In this exercise, Dovi had a very good operation in 2017, with 6 victories credited with around 200 euros each (the figures are confidential), while second place in the World Championship would have brought in 000 euros. So despite the decrease in her salary compared to 500, Andrea would have earned more in 000 thanks to her excellent performance.
It is difficult for Ducati to find a balance between its two riders, because in 2018 the contracts for 2019 and 2020 will be negotiated. But as its Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti explains, “ We reached an agreement to give him more concessions in his favor next year. Ducati has done and will do what is necessary to show Dovi that his performance this year was important for him, but also for us. This is why we would like to show him our gratitude.
“We are not afraid of losing him, but we know that he is a driver that other teams will watch with interest. We are confident that Andrea is happy with us, and we will do everything possible to keep this story going. It is natural that we want to continue with him. »
The question that arises is rather to find a balance between Jorge Lorenzo's remuneration and his results. For Ciabatti, “ Ducati has invested heavily in a rider who has won three MotoGP titles and should be able, with Ducati, to give the performance expected of a champion. The goal is to continue with Jorge and Andrea ».
The contractual attitude of the Italian firm towards its two drivers is therefore slightly different. On the one hand, we should sign Dovizioso as quickly as possible to be sure to keep him. On the other hand, it would be good to wait a few races to see the quality of Lorenzo's results, in order to adapt his future remuneration to this.
Photo © Ducati
Source: tuttomotoriweb.com
