Ducati drops big hint it will promote Jack Miller to factory team
Ducati has given the clearest indication yet that it will promote Jack Miller to its factory line-up for the 2021 MotoGP World Championship season.
Talk of the Australian being swapped from his satellite Ducati ride to the works outfit has gathered pace in recent days after his Pramac Racing boss Francesco Guidotti said he expected a deal to be announced soon.
Now Ducati Team boss Davide Tardozzi has openly revealed there is a strong chance Miller will be racing in red next season but stopped short of saying a deal had been done as yet.
"We are thinking about Jack in the factory team," told BT Sport "We have to manage the situation because the riders that will join the factory team will be two of the five riders that are contracted with Ducati already.
“Two of the five will be there. Jack did something very good at the end of the season, so we're thinking he could be a possibility. We are discussing internally about that, even with Jack, but no decisions have been made.
“We’re very close to making a decision regarding Jack but nothing has been done yet."
Miller’s promotion will see him take the place of either Andrea Dovizioso or Danilo Petrucci at Ducati.
Though Dovizioso has been coy over making any commitments to Ducati in recent weeks – even floating the idea of retirement – it is understood he is nearing a deal that will see him remain with the team in 2021.
As for Petrucci, the Italian has seemingly suffered from his drop off in performance during the latter half of 2019, which in turn coincided with a strong run of results of Miller on the satellite GP19.
Though he was hoping to use the opening rounds of 2020 to demonstrate a return to form, the coronavirus pause has forced Ducati to make a formal decision before a wheel has turned in anger this year.
With Guidotti himself talking up a Moto2 graduate to join Pecco Bagnaia in 2021, it appears Petrucci’s days at Ducati in MotoGP are numbered. His alternatives could see him switch to another team, with Aprilia thought to be one strong possibility, reports in the Italian media suggest he could be shifted to its WorldSBK effort to race alongside Scott Redding.
