The end of the season is also an opportunity to focus on more nostalgic subjects. Today, we are going to talk about the end of a historic association in MotoGP, which seemed almost eternal, as the two entities went together. Ducati and Pramac Racing are no longer together, so this is an opportunity to look back on their common journey.
Difficult beginnings
Even though Pramac has been a Ducati customer since 2005, the team already existed long before that. In fact, the 2005 project brought together, in the same box, the Antin teams – a team created in 1999, customer Yamaha until 2003 then private Ducati in 2004 –, as well as the Pramac Racing team, born in 2002 and who used Hondas. Indeed, it was not always about Italians. In 2005, therefore, the two became one, taking the name of the company Pramac, a global company specializing in energy storage and generators.
Kallio's debut in MotoGP.
In 2005, the Ducati program had only been underway for two years, making the task extremely difficult. The first Ducati Pramac rider was none other than Roberto Rolfo. Alone in the box, the 2003 250cc world vice-champion did not achieve any feat, especially since he had a GP4 from the previous year. Then came the obscure José Luis Cardoso, accompanied by Alex Hofmann, followed, in 2007, by Alex Barros. This season is pivotal, because Pramac chooses Bridgestone, and benefits, for the first time, from a motorcycle from the current season. On his handlebars, Barros scores the team's first podium at Mugello. The following year, Toni Elias scored two, including a strong second place in Brno. It's getting closer.
Well, that's what we believed at the time. From 2008-2009, Ducati entered a dark period, lost in its development. The factory team can't do it anymore, except perhaps Casey Stoner, who, thanks to his crazy talent, compensates for the shortcomings of his machines. The Pramac pilots suffer more. They follow one another, without any real project construction around an individuality. We saw Aleix Espargaro debut in MotoGP with them, but also Niccolo Canepa and Mika Kallio. Things weren't going any better with Randy de Puniet and Loris Capirossi in 2011, then there was Hector Barbera, the debut of Andrea Iannone and the end of Ben Spies. The driver who embodies this descent into hell is the forgotten Yonny Hernandez, entered in 2014 and 2015 without results.
The renewal
Of the drivers that I mentioned to Jorge Martin, there is a world. But for me, the one who restarted the machine, the real link between difficult years and success, is none other than Danilo Petrucci. Okay, Scott Redding was also good on the Italian, as was Jack Miller, but no one better represented the Ducati renaissance in the Dall'Igna era than Petrucci, except, of course, Andrea Dovizioso in the official team. In 2017, Pramac Racing reconnected with the Desmosedici of the current year, which they had lost since the end of 2014. It was from there that the sacred union was formed between the satellite and the Borgo Panigale firm, which Davide Tardozzi calls, in 2023, “the sister team”.
Danilo Petrucci in 2017 was very strong. Photo: Michelin Motorsport
In 2019, the discreet debut of Pecco Bagnaia does not suggest the birth of a double world champion, while Jack Miller, for his part, achieves very honorable performances. Both parties for factory training in 2021, Pramac puts together a shock duo, the last chapter in his story: Zarco/Martin.
Johann Zarco is already well established in the landscape, while Martin, rookie in 2021, is seen as a kind of genius. He has won everywhere he has gone, from the Red Bull Rookies Cup to the Moto3 championship. The Moto2 title, somewhat truncated due to Covid-19, eluded him – he missed two races. Immediately, the “Martinator” is among the fastest pilots. A major injury at the start of the season did not slow him down. He came back even stronger, and won the first Grand Prix in the history of his team in Austria, for his first year at the highest level.
The Frenchman, at his side, is far from ridiculous. Zarco has a string of good performances and remains poisonous in qualifying. Pramac Racing is there, among the greats, even bothering Ducati Corse. In 2023, the Franco-Spanish pair snatch the teams' title, but Martin misses out on the MotoGP crown for not much. In 2024, however, the “Martinator” becomes the first satellite rider to win a MotoGP championship in the modern era. He thus completes the circle, without Zarco, now at Honda LCR.
An uncertain future
At the end of an exceptional season, Pramac Racing can celebrate its shared history with Ducati. It's almost a shame that Campinoti, Borsoï and their men are leaving to join Yamaha after so many years, but the decision was understandable after what happened earlier in the season. It's sad, yes, but the conclusion to such a beautiful story couldn't have been more beautiful.
What is certain is that Pramac will have to start from the beginning, with inferior Yamahas, and much less prestigious riders than what they have known. But they did it once, so why not dream?
What do you think of Pramac Racing's history in MotoGP?
Tell me in the comments!
We often tend to forget the beginnings of Aleix Espargaro
Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport
