Our friends at Solo Moto are reporting that Ducati is taking a close look at Jorge Lorenzo for next year’s MotoGP squad. Feeling that it has essentially put all of its eggs in one basket (i.e., Casey Stoner), and that basket is currently questionable (Stoner has the mystery illness so widely reported), why not bring another superstar on board for 2010? Apparently, Ducati’s bid for Lorenzo’s services will be backed by sponsorship money from none other than Philip Morris. Stay tuned.
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MD Readers Respond:
- IF I’m Jorge Lorenzo, sitting #2 in the championship, on arguably the best bike in the series, fighting with arguably the best rider ever, why would I want to go to Ducati? The red bike has been shown time and again to be competitive for just one rider (Stoner), though Bayliss did win in a one off. Who knows how long Rossi wants to stay in MGP … rumors say F1 or even WSB. Yamaha is giving Lorenzo the same stuff as Rossi, and Lorenzo is either getting beaten by a better rider or being forced into a crash by the better rider. Yes Ducati and Phillip Morris are going to throw around a truck load of money. He’s going to get a truck load of money with whoever he signs with. Being Spanish all he has to do is go to Repsol and he’ll have money at his disposal.
I’d use Ducati as a bargaining chip with Yamaha, and stay. Craig
