Dovizioso to leave Ducati at the end of 2020 MotoGP season

Andrea Dovizioso’s manager has confirmed that he will be parting ways with the Ducati MotoGP team at the end of the ongoing 2020 season, after opting to not renew his contract.

• Dovizioso’s manager says that he hasn’t received any offers so far
• Bagnaia and Lorenzo in the running to replace Dovizioso at Ducati

Why did Dovizioso decide to leave Ducati?

After joining Ducati in 2013, Dovizioso has gone on to win 13 races for the Italian squad and has even been the runner-up in the MotoGP championship for the past three years. His current deal with Ducati is up at the end of this year.

However, heading into the 2020 season, it became evident that the two parties were unable to reach an agreement, with Ducati unwilling to offer a big-money deal owing to financial challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Austrian MotoGP race, Dovizioso’s manager, Simone Battistella, confirmed that the Italian rider has decided to not continue with Ducati. He also added that Ducati hadn’t yet made Dovizioso a proposal for 2021.

“We communicated to Ducati that Andrea has decided that regardless of Ducati’s will to make or not to make a proposal, he doesn’t want to continue for the future,” said Battistella.

Confirming the news, Ducati Corse’s Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti said: “We met Simone this morning here at Red Bull Ring and realised that unfortunately there are not the conditions to continue our relationship with Dovi [Dovizioso] beyond the end of the current contract.”

“Ducati and Andrea will now fully concentrate on the remainder of the 2020 season, starting from tomorrow’s Austrian GP, with the common goal to add more wins to the 13 first places already achieved together and fight for the title until the end of the championship,” he continued.

What are Dovizioso’s options for 2021?

There remains a big question mark over Dovizioso’s future in MotoGP since most teams have already finalised their 2021 line-up. Aprilia remains the only factory team with an available slot as the team is waiting for Andrea Iannone’s doping case to be resolved in October.

Battistella maintains that Dovizoso is determined to race in MotoGP next year, but he doesn’t have any offers yet.

Who will replace Dovizioso at Ducati?

Pramac Racing’s Francesco Bagnaia seems to be the front-runner to bag the vacant seat at Ducati alongside Jack Miller. However, retired MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo has also been linked to a possible return to the series with Ducati.

Also see:

2021 MotoGP: Honda signs Pol Espargaro to partner Marc Marquez

Ducati MotoGP team signs Jack Miller for 2021