According to his Pramac Racing boss Francesco Guidotti, Jack Miller is about to agree a deal that will promote him to the Ducati MotoGP factory team for 2021.
The Australian entered the 2020 MotoGP season to continue the formidable form of podium win he demonstrated on the Pramac Ducati satellite in late 2019 as part of his efforts to maintain his work contract in MotoGP since his debut in 2015.
However, the coronavirus hiatus will force Ducati to call its rider lineup ahead of the race, including whether or not to promote Miller through either Danilo Petrucci or Andrea Dovizioso.
It looks like Petrucci’s seat is considered the most threatened after seeing a downtrend shortly after his maiden MotoGP win at Mugello, though Dovizioso also remained shy about agreeing to a new deal for 2021.
Related articles
Nonetheless, it is believed that Ducati Miller will assign one of the full factory bikes, which is given extra weight by Pramac boss Guidotti, who believes they are about to close a deal.
“The most logical and normal situation is for Jack to join the factory team,” the Italian told MotoGP.com. “He started with us with the aim of driving for the works team. After a difficult first year, I think he showed very good potential last year, he took a big step.
“He’s ready for the works team. You are negotiating, and as far as I know it’s not finished yet. But of course there is an intention on both sides to close the deal. I think it’s tight.” “
Miller’s Ducati promotion came after an exhausting twelve months, during which he competed directly against current works driver Danilo Petrucci for the 2020 seat. With Petrucci’s famous Italian MotoGP win effectively securing him a factory ride for another year, Miller saw his position controversially threatened by Jorge Lorenzo, who allegedly piqued Ducati’s interest in mid-2019 with a surprising approach.
Ducati eventually agreed to another extension with Miller, but not before he was tempted by a large cash offer from KTM, which he turned down because he was focused on securing a Ducati factory seat in the future.
“Last year Jack could have left when KTM offered him a lot of money, but he stayed with us, say, not for little money, much less,” continued Guidotti. “That means that he is very happy with the technical aspect, likes the bike and the feeling is good.”
Will Jack Miller replace Petrucci or Dovizioso?
The extended break from racing was problematic for Ducati as it relied on the first few races to judge directly whether to keep Petrucci or swap him for Miller.
The problem Ducati is facing is that by promoting Miller to a factory headquarters it would be difficult to justify getting the Italian back to a Pramac ride. Therefore, it is more likely that he will be carried off into the WorldSBK championship similar to Alvaro Bautista.
Nonetheless, Dovizioso has kept his cards close to his chest for the past few weeks and has even spread the idea of retiring from the sport at the end of the season. Although Dovizioso has become Marc Marquez’s closest rival week after week, the two parties are reportedly at odds over wage demands.
Should Miller move up to the factory team, Ducati would leave a seat at Pramac to promote a Moto2 rider with Jorge Martin, Joe Roberts and Remy Gardner all associated with the seat.