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At Ducati 'they're not talking about it', and they say that officially, but in Borgo Panigale a red light bulb has come on above the office of Claudio Domenicali, the emergency light.
Jorge Martin's series of successes - 4 wins, the last one on Sunday at Buriram, and 6 successes in the Sprint Races - are making Martinator a proud opponent of Pecco Bagnaia in the race for the title.
While a fantastic head-to-head between Pecco and Jorge is looming - or even better a mano a mano, as the Spaniards say when referring to the direct clash between two matadors - with the lead of the rider from Chivasso reduced to just 13 points with 111 available, someone must have been struck by a thought, irrespective of the fact that it is always a Ducati rider and a Ducati team fighting for the most coveted laurel: what if the number 1 ended up on the fairing of the Prima Pramac team?
Here it's not a matter of brand or riders, but of sponsors and image. It’s a bit as if in F1 it wasn't Ferrari who won the title, but Alfa Romeo. In MotoGP the situation is even worse, because we are not just talking about the 066/10 power unit, but the entire bike. Because the Desmosedici GP23 of Bagnaia and Martinator, apart from the colours of the sponsors, are identical.
While on the one hand Pramac has been with Ducati since 2005, after debuting in 2002 with Honda, first with Tetsuya Harada and subsequently with Makoto Tamada, and Paolo Campinoti fully deserves the honour, on the other hand this might be a reason for embarrassment for the parent company which would have to explain to its sponsors who probably pay handsomely for the honour of wearing the # 1 plate, the Ducati philosophy which led to 'friendly fire' and possibly losing the title.
'We are not talking about it', is Ducati's official response to the direct question of whether a Bastianini-Martin swap could occur, and it is true that Enea and his manager have received written confirmation for 2024... but lately MotoGP is demonstrating a certain fragility at a contractual level.
And moreover in this case it would be reason of state: the # 1 plate in the right place, that is in the factory team. Not that it’s a simple matter, however, because it would also concern all of Bastianini's sponsors who, despite a championship to forget, signed (and paid) for a rider in red and not pink.
Pramac has finished the world championship in fourth place for the last two years and has always been in the top six places in the championship since 2014. It deserves it.
Bastianini is well aware that the emergency is close by, but he wants to believe that he will have another card to play in 2024, as his contract envisages: "Next year is fundamental for me - Bastianini said at Buriram - I have to do a good season, but the pressure is still the same. I know there are many very fast Ducati riders, and probably everyone wants to sit on my bike. It's normal, but I know my level. I know what I can do and it's just a matter of time before everything returns."
Carlo Pernat, his manager, is calm and has no doubts.
“We received confirmation at the end of August. It's all decided and signed. We are already talking to Gigi Dall'Igna about the team for next year."
The red one or the pink one?
