This is going to send the rider market into a frenzy. With Mir and Rins up for grabs. Very sad news at the same time. I know this is a Ducati forum ,but the last thing we need is a Moto GP grid of predominantly Ducati motorcycles. It’s already top heavy on that count. Need different manufacturers to make the sport varied and interesting.
They don’t have a headline sponsor do they? when you look at their bike range, you do wonder whether they have lost interest in bikes altogether.
They've achieved their goals by winning the manufactures title along with the riders, so maybe new horizons is the order of the day, but yes very disappointing news.
These manufacturers come and go. How many times have Honda left F1? Usually the season before their engine wins the championship!
Shame that as the current lot of riders , apart from A couple , are not that good , I'd reckon Rea and his fellow wsbk riders could beat this lot if the had their bikes
The question's how many more millions of company pounds do they spend keeping in the game and hoping they bag another championship, basically it works out around 3 x titles per thirty odd years.
Not sure if this is true, but I saw a post earlier saying Suzuki made 1.5Bn Euro profit in the first quarter, so it's not like it's a financial decision, although I would expect the MotoGP effort has a set budget and without a a main sponsor they probably blow their budget. Seems crazy to invest millions then pull the plug, but they have achieved their goals and unfortunately probably not sold the millions of bikes they were hoping for. I'd say having 8 Ducati's on the grid may have played a part, it's unlikely any manufacturer can win that title when the numbers are heavily in Ducati's favour. Then onto the rider market, if the rumours are true Mir will partner Marquez at Repsol, which I think will make a great team assuming Mir can get his head around the Honda, I suspect it's more Suzuki like now so that should help. Rins, another great rider, I could see him on a satellite Yamaha replacing Dovi, again probably an easy transition and hopefully he'll get an A spec package. If Mir gets the Repsol ride it leaves Pol out of a ride, he's going to have to hope Aprilia fill the Suzuki void with a satellite team as I don't see many riders really moving at the end of the year. Not sure how long Vinales's contract is but could Pol partner his brother? Finally assuming the above happens it would mean there's no room for Toprak, unless they bin Binder, who knows.
Racing in general, they did the same in WRC a few years back. Its a shame - fingers crossed the green meanies or A N Other factory can be persuaded to sign on the dotted line to replace them.
I was honestly thinking about this subject the other day... I was thinking that rather than effectively get the Ducati to steer as well as the other bikes, what they have really done is create a bike that does most stuff 'okay' and is the fastest in a straight line.... So in effect, you can't pass them in a corner, and they are quick on the straight, and because there are 8 of them, you are begging for scraps unless you are away at the front... I think there somehow needs to be a limit on the amount of bikes one manufacturer can put out, so for example 6 max, I just worry this would mean small grids..
