Despite the current situation in MotoGP… Ducati Corse Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti said that there are no team orders or teamwork in 2022 for their riders.
Johann Zarco from Pramac Racing takes 3rd place in the MotoGP general classification with 58 points behind the championship leader Fabio Quartararo from Monster Energy Yamaha. There are still 9 races before the final, and anything can happen, however… while the ball is rolling into the pocket of Yamaha, and the main rival of Quarararo is Ales Espargaro from Aprilia Racing, but not the Ducati pilots.
Is Ducati Corse going to influence the situation in any way – by persuasion or direct command instructions? or the construction of cunning schemes of concealment?
“First of all, I have to say what is obvious: we still have a lot of races left,” said Paolo Ciabatti. – In principle, with the exception of a couple of known cases, we do not use command orders – there is no need for that. It is also quite obvious that if we are talking about the last race of the championship, when the title is at stake, and only a few points decide everything, and one driver has no chance of winning, and the other has it, it is logical to play by team rules and have a common strategy for [factory] drivers. But these are exceptional cases. And now we are completely in the wrong situation.”
“We do not plan to give command instructions to influence this situation. But only in case to avoid unreasonable collisions. There have been such cases in the past. For example, after the collision of Dovizioso and Iannone at the race in Argentina, as a result of which both lost their guaranteed places on the podium, we, of course, worked with our guys. Just to avoid similar incidents in the future. But this does not mean that we forbid them to fight with each other. Within the framework of one brand, one team, it is logical that its representatives behave with each other more carefully and respectfully. But we see how respectful our riders are to each other. There is no need to inspire them with something. And that’s what pleases me the most. But their positions in the championship, of course, are not very pleasing.”