There will certainly be few riders who, given the opportunity to have an official factory bike, say no and choose another direction. There will be even fewer who, like Jack Miller, have twice as many chances of opting for another factory bike.
The Australian signed for the official KTM team, but had the opportunity to ride for Pramac Racing, the team he had represented before joining the Ducati factory team. Paolo Ciabatti (Ducati Corse Sporting Director) told Autosport.com that Miller’s departure from the Ducati structure was a decision made by the rider, who had a Desmosedici GP23 waiting for him…but at Pramac. With a place at another factory and two years left on his contract, Miller opted to race with KTM, Ciabetti revealed:
– In the case of Jack, we had different plans for him, which was to offer him a factory bike at Pramac but only on a one-year contract. And understandably, he got an opportunity to be a factory rider for two years on a KTM, and probably also with a slightly better salary. So, it’s perfectly understandable. And also, on the technicians, I think Ducati is proud to have developed very skilled engineers and obviously we are very sorry when they decide to leave Ducati.