At Ducati, it is time after a stage at Silverstone which further opened the way to a sixth MotoGP title for rival Marc Márquez, to rethink its rider policy. At least that is what emerges from the first interventions of sports director Paolo Ciabatti on the subject. The Borgo Panigale factory will begin to eye the younger generation and rely less on the sure values and other well-established champions. It is therefore not surprising to see the first strong compliments being made about the Fabio Quartararo case.
It is the conjunction of two observations: Ducati, in the current state of his forces, cannot truly defeat Marc Márquez. At the same time, fabio quartararo came to light at just 20 years old. A pilot like the same Márquez looks out of the corner of his eye, sensing the future rival in him.
Furthermore, since the British Grand Prix, the spearhead of Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso, regrets a delay of 78 points on the official Honda. So, unless you debauch Marc Márquez, we must think of another strategy in the red house: “ we must think about the present and the future. It's a factor. Looking only to the past may not be the right approach”, declares the sports director Paolo ciabatti. This time the case Lorenzo seems definitely buried...
The Italian continues: “ maybe Quartararo turns out to be the new Márquez. Although he doesn't have the latest specs on his bike, it has proven to be incredibly fast ", admits Ciabatta. " He exceeds all expectations as a rookie. Of course, he's on a Yamaha, which perhaps makes the transition to MotoGP easier for a newcomer. He's not settling for sixth or eighth place, as you might expect from a beginner. No, he shows extraordinary speed. Sooner or later, someone better than Márquez will come. He is very young, very strong, he drives the Honda, which may have been tailor-made for him. But who knows? Maybe on Quartararo is the future. »
But the same Ciabatta reminds us that he already has plenty of talent potential in stock: “ we have two young drivers under contract with Miller and Bagnaia. That's why we'll look at what we have at Ducati first when thinking about the 2021 rider duo. Of course, Bagnaia's first season in MotoGP is more complicated than expected. But he proved his immense talent by winning the 2 Moto2018 championship. He is young and our bike is not the easiest machine for a rookie. But Pecco still has our full support, he will have a 2020 factory machine next year. »
« So we have two young drivers at home, plus Dovi and Danilo who are not that old. We still have a lot of time and we have four strong drivers in 2020, two of whom are quite young. We'll see when the time comes. " finished Ciabatta on speedweek.
