Whilst Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin are the only two possibilities for the vacant Ducati MotoGP seat in 2023, there have been rumors in the international press in recent weeks of a blackmail of sorts by the Spaniard – which for him would be to join the official team or leave the Ducati ‘sphere’.
Despite being Bastianini’s manager, Carlo Pernat has come out in defense of Martin, stating to MOW Magazine that neither Ducati would accept blackmail, nor would Martin have reason to do so as he knows that he would have factory benefits whichever team he rode for:
– I think it’s a bleak. You journalists are playing on the blackmail that Jorge Martin would have done to Ducati: either you give me the factory team or I’ll go away. But do those of Ducati seem like types who let themselves be blackmailed? As far as I know, Jorge Martin has the same contract as Enea, the same commitment and the same guarantee as a totally official bike, with the possibility of choosing the mechanics and collaborators to take with him.
Pernat further emphasized: ‘It’s just a matter of defining the color of the fairing, Lenovo or Pramac, but I really don’t think there is room for Jorge Martin to go to Honda. In this blackmail thing, let me tell you, I really don’t believe in it, especially because I know Gigi Dall’Igna and the others from Borgo Panigale. They have chosen to focus on young people and the young people, now, are Martin and Bastianini.’