MotoGP – Claudio Domenicali opens the exit door to Jorge Lorenzo

Bruno Gomes

May 25, 2018

At the begining of the season it was all smiles in the Ducati factory team… but those days are gone and Jorge Lorenzo is moving out

It’s a known fact that the relationship between Jorge Lorenzo and Ducati has seen better days, and the Spanish rider hasn’t made much progress in terms of performance since joining the Italian manufacturer.

With Ducati investing so much money to get Lorenzo back in 2017, it’s only natural that Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO, wanted Lorenzo to show they’ve made the right decision. But that didn’t really happen, so Domenicali has spoken for the first time in public about the future of the five-time world champion.

Speaking during an event from Ducati in Bologna, Domenicali acknowledges the fact that Jorge Lorenzo “is a great rider but he wasn’t able to get the best from our bike”.

Speaking this way about a current rider of the team only shows that Claudio Domenicali has given up on keeping Lorenzo, and he made sure everyone understands that they’re going to have a new rider by saying Ducati is talking with someone that will bring balance to the team.

With Andrea Dovizioso already confirmed and being the main rider for the factory Ducati team in MotoGP, who will be his teammate?

And where will Jorge Lorenzo go: Suzuki, Aprilia, Yamaha? Will Lorenzo even continue riding next season, or will he take a break or abandon racing?

All these questions should have an answer very soon, and probably during the MotoGP race in Barcelona, in three weeks’ time, everything will be sorted.