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Pramac team owner Paolo Campinoti has been running a MotoGP racing team with Ducati since 2005. The first few years were bumpy, but after the arrival of Gigi Dall'Igna in October 2013, the Desmosedici bikes from Borgo Panigale steadily improved. The Ducati Corse factory team fought valiantly with Andrea Dovizioso for three years (2017, 2018, 2019) against Marc Márquez for the world title. However, it was only after a drastic rejuvenation and the €25 million two-year deal with Jorge Lorenzo (2017 and 2018) that things really took off with fresh riders. And now in 2024, Ducati will win the Constructors' Championship for the fifth time in a row!
Jorge Martin triumphed for the first time in the 2021 MotoGP World Championship at the Styrian GP at the Red Bull Ring - and sent the passionate Pramac team boss Paolo Campinoti into a frenzy of joy. The dry spell was over, the first MotoGP win under the belt.
The relationship with Ducati Corse had become ever closer over the years. The factory had supplied genuine and up-to-date factory bikes for years, and young riders such as Petrucci, Bagnaia, Miller, Martin and so on had been built up and trained for the factory team from Borgo Panigale.
"We would have won in Assen in 2016 with Danilo Petrucci if there hadn't been a problem back then", recalls Campinoti, who speaks excellent German and earns his living by manufacturing Pramac generators.
However, there were repeated discussions, for example when Ducati wanted to promote Australian Jack Miller to the factory team for 2020 and Campinoti made it clear statement at the final in Valencia in 2019: "Miller will be staying with us".
Pramac Racing made the final breakthrough in 2023, with Jorge Martin fighting for the title until the last race, even if a mysterious tire problem at the Qatar GP ruined all chances. Pramac could have been the first satellite team in the MotoGP four-stroke era (which began in 2002) to win the Riders' Championship.
The well-financed Pramac Racing team repeatedly received inquiries from other motorcycle manufacturers looking for a promising satellite team. Campinoti was approached by Suzuki, KTM and Aprilia, for example, during the last ten years.
But Campinoti remained steadfast. His racing team formed the extended arm of the victorious Lenovo Ducati Corse team, which finally won the 2022 and 2023 Riders' World Championship with Pecco Bagnaia.
But there is a chance that the Ducati era at Pramac will come to an end after the 2024 season. Campinoti's patience seemed exhausted after the Italian GP. He came very close to accepting a new challenge with Yamaha. The Japanese factory lost Petronas Yamaha after 2021, followed by a setback with WithU-Yamaha in 2022, since when there has been no Yamaha customer team.
However, Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing (YMR), has emphasized for years: "The ideal number of Yamaha MotoGP bikes on the grid is four."
For the time being, Yamaha Motor Racing has neither confirmed nor denied the takeover of Pramac Racing for the years 2025 and 2026. "No comment", is the only statement that Lin Jarvis has been able to elicit.
Both parties are keeping a low profile for the time being, and Campinoti does not want to make a statement either. This is because Pramac has a valid option to remain with Ducati until the end of July. "There will only be definitive clarity in the summer break after the German GP," says an insider who wishes to remain anonymous.
Yamaha had high hopes that the Mooney VR46 team would switch from Ducati to Yamaha in 2023, but the negotiations came to nothing. And Valentino Rossi could not expect a winning rider like Marco Bezzecchi and sponsors to switch to the ailing M1-YZR-Yamaha for 2024 either.
And now, as in the first Ducati year for Luca Marini, the Rossi team could once again receive current Ducati GP25 racing bikes for 2025 – for Marco Bezzecchi, who secured a podium finish (third place) in Jerez this year. But Bez ist also on the short list at Aprilia to replace Viñales.
Since Campinoti has been confronted with the fact that he is losing Jorge Martin and was also unable to attract Marc Márquez to Pramac, the successful businessman is finding more and more of a taste for the Yamaha variant. The Japanese have been rolling out the red carpet for Campinoti.
Pramac could be the number one satellite team of Yamaha instead one of the three Ducati private squads.
