Davide Tardozzi warned that Ducati will “lose PR exercise”
“That will sting, there is no doubt about it..."
Ducati will lose the PR war if Aprilia unveil a #1 plate on their 2025 bike, Davide Tardozzi has been told.
Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin takes a 24-point lead into this weekend’s MotoGP season-finale in Barcelona.
He is red-hot favourite to wrap up his first title but will go to Aprilia in 2025 - meaning Ducati’s rival manufacturer could run the coveted #1 plate on Martin’s bike next year.
Ducati team boss Tardozzi insisted they will be content knowing Martin became champion on a Ducati, regardless of the appearance of next year’s Aprilia.
But TNT Sports’ Michael Laverty claimed: “That will sting, there is no doubt about it.
“As much as they will sugarcoat it by saying he’s the champion on a Ducati in the record books, they will lose the PR exercise next year.
“And Aprilia will gain it. They will stick the #1 plate on the Aprilia, for sure!
“You would capitalise on it.”
Francesco Bagnaia, who has won the title in each of the past two seasons, must complete an almighty comeback in Barcelona to retain it.
And he arguably lacks assistance on the grid - teammate Enea Bastianini owes Ducati nothing after they replaced him for 2025, and he will go to KTM.
Marc Marquez is Bagnaia’s next teammate but he is unlikely to want to get involved in the title fight.
Laverty told Ducati: “They can’t force it. They can’t force Enea to help. Martin has been more consistent with less mistakes.
“They’ve got a double world champion but this hasn’t been Pecco’s year.”
Pramac are close to the huge coup of beating their own factory to the title.
It would be a remarkable end to their alliance, because Pramac have signed up to become a Yamaha satellite project from 2025 onwards.
Neil Hodgson said: “It’s huge. That is a satellite team - they don’t have the same amount of personnel.
“It’s quite a step up to the full factory team.
“It has never happened, we have never had a satellite team win the MotoGP title. I know Valentino Rossi won in 2001 on a full factory bike.
“But we’ve not had it, especially at this level.
“For a satellite team to put one over on the factory? It’s huge.
“If it happens, the fact that it’s Pramac? They are the friendly team, they’ve always been friendly.
“Paolo Campinoti who runs the team has been in this paddock for 25 years, spending millions of his own money.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
