It will have been said that the relations between Ducati and Jorge Lorenzo will have been up and down during the two seasons of their contract. The first year was tense, and this second and final year seemed like it could end in a climax with victories to celebrate. There have actually been three but recently there have also been injuries. And the last one in Buriram which led to this weekend's package at Motegi leaves its mark...
First, among the reds, we don't understand everything that's going on... The sports director Paolo ciabatti indeed declared: “ We were convinced until Sunday that everything was fine and that the convalescence was going well. Then the pain returned. We will now do further tests to understand the real entity of the injury, in order to understand if, in addition to the fracture, there is also no ligament problem ».
Jorge Lorenzo replied : " I wrote to Davide Tardozzi ten days ago to say that the lesion had not healed. And Gigi Dall'Igna knew it too. Even though I didn't think I wouldn't be able to run, they should have brought Pirro here as a precaution ».
But it wasn't possible. Pirro had been involved in a Ducati promotional event in Abu Dhabi for a while now. In a week, it will be Australia and Por Fuera has already warned that he cannot see himself driving his GP18 there. The same Pirro will not be able to be mobilized since he will be in Valencia for important tests with a view to finalizing the GP19. Here Ducati is running out of solutions because on the Superbike side, Chaz Davies et Marco Melandri will be busy this weekend with the final round of their World Championship in Qatar.
SO ? So we have to find someone because Honda is 34 points away in the constructors' championship. And this plan B would bear its name perfectly with this letter which means Baptist…the latter got wind of the growing rumor and commented on Motorsport : " Jorge's situation is sad for him and I hope he recovers quickly. As far as I'm concerned, I'm available so if they want me on their bike, it will be with pleasure. But the truth is that I don't know any more about it. ».
We will recall that Baptist will leave MotoGP at the end of this year to try a new adventure with Ducati in Superbike. Finally, if the idea took off, the Nieto team would still have to find another driver for Phillip Island…
