Jorge Martínez “Aspar” will finally move his World Championship project up to MotoGP in 2010, courtesy of a deal with Ducati confirmed on Saturday at Donington Park. After three years of negotiating with various factories, an agreement has been struck for an ambitious stay in the premier class.
“It seems that after three years we are finally able to achieve our dream of presenting a MotoGP project. It’s been three years of fighting and looking for the best option and, after sounding out various factories, we have finally reached an agreement with Ducati,” declared Aspar at the British track. “I hope that this will be a fruitful arrangement that will continue in the long term. In theory we will have one rider in 2010, with the idea being to expand to two in 2011.”
The Aspar Team will be present in all three categories of the World Championship, with the MotoGP team joining 125cc and Moto2 squads.
“Our goal is primarily to grow strong in MotoGP from a technical viewpoint. We will continue with the 125cc team and compete in the Moto2 class, so we feel that this is a big step for the whole team. Today the big news is that we are moving up to MotoGP with Ducati, so the second thing that we have to do is confirm a rider. We hope to be able to do this by the time we get to Brno,” added the former three-time lower cylinder category World Champion, who was clear on his preferred choice for the available spot.
”It would be great to convince Álvaro Bautista to come up with us and he is our first option for the MotoGP team. He has been with us for a long time, winning a 125cc World Championship and finishing second in 250cc, so it would be great for him to continue with us,” he stated, referring to the rider currently involved in the 250cc title fight.
Source: motogp.com
I guess Aspar Ducati would seem the best option for Alvaro now to move up to MotoGP. He knows the team well, he’ll supposedly get good support from the manufacturer and has an option to move up to the factory team in 2011. If it wasn’t Ducati, that would be a sweet enough deal, the bike is really the only unknown factor. Mika Kallio seems to get along with it good enough though and I’m optimistic that Alvaro will be able to handle it well himself.
Suzuki would of course be a good option to join a factory squad right away, but the bike doesn’t look as competitive anymore as it was in preseason and allegedly they’re missing some development and possibly also the financial backup to really get back into the fight. Even the satellite Ducatis have looked more competitive than them a couple of times this season, so I think the Ducati should be the better choice. And Yamaha seems to be completely on hold until Lorenzo decides what to do, so if Bati wants to sign now, I guess he’ll stay with Aspar which would be awesome imo.
Agreed Tamara – Aspar Ducati does look like the best option right now. I just hope they’re gonna let the Aspar team do their own thing and let them figure out the Ducati by themselves. Bit scared they’ll go all Honda (We have the best bike and no way you can improve on it so keep your fingers off it!) on them… but we’ll see. I’ll only believe it’s confirmed when there’s a big fat official announcement of it.
Me too. The news about the Aspar Ducati also kinda trickled through earlier, but it’s only confirmed when someone official says so and I will hold my breath until they do so at Brno.
Have to agree with the worries about Ducati being all protective of their bike. They have been very eager this and last season to prove that “it’s not the bike, it’s the rider…”, so there might be some reason to worry. The good thing with Ducati however is that they try to treat their factory and satellite teams more or less equal in terms of updates and support. I’m not too fond of their policy that you can’t seem to take your own mechanics with you and stuff and rather supply you with their own specialists, but it probably has its upsides.
We’ll see. If/When Bati confirms his move at Brno there’s still plenty of time until the 2010 season starts and to sort things out. This way or another I’m very excited already to see him in the big class next year.
The trouble with the Ducati seems to be the lack of development to match the other riders, it’s great that the bike suits Stoner, but how will that help Alvaro? There has sure been some progress in this area in the recent months, but wether or not they are able help Alvaro make the bike competative and suit his needs (I think Alvaro is probably the smoothest rider in the 250class), and if he learns to trust the electronics in the Ducati I think they will really upset the established order. I myself love Ducati and I must say for my own sake that I hope this works out, I the only thing scaring me is like I said the fact that only one rider seems to be in focus.
Hoping the Duc is the right bike for them… I think if Kallio has had some success with it, Bati should be able to as well!
I could not agree if the team chose the drivers Aspar’s Alvaro Bautista As with the rider that could compete with diperediksikan Bautista other great drivers, especially in 2010 when Bautista motogp into Aspar & Ducati team .. And I hope Alvaro Bautista Aspar team entered & Ducati, TNks