IN
THE
WIND
P54
Miller Gets His Contract
J
ack Miller can rest easy as
he will continue to be Pramac
Ducati's lead rider in MotoGP,
following a renewal of the Austra-
lian's contract.
The new deal will see Miller on
a full factory-spec Ducati Des-
mosedici GP20 alongside Pecco
Bagnaia, and puts an end to
speculation that Jorge Lorenzo
will make a shock return to the
Ducati fold after a so far disas-
trous season with Repsol Honda.
"Our main goal is to grow
young riders and give them the
chance to ride the factory Ducati
bike one day," team boss Fran-
cesco Guidotti said. "Jack is
proving to have great talent and
his current position in the riders'
standings is confirmation of this.
We are proud to have him with
us also next season and we will
now stay focused on our work to
achieve even greater results in
2019."
Miller was left hanging by
Ducati after it was revealed
Lorenzo had approached the
factory to make a return after
one season with Honda. The
Spaniard enjoys a good working
relationship with Ducati Corse's
tech guru Gigi Dall'Igna, who
was instrumental in luring Lo-
renzo away from Ducati in 2017.
However, Lorenzo has now
confirmed he will honor the
second year of his contract
with Repsol Honda, paving the
way for Miller to be resigned by
Ducati. This also puts Miller in
line for a factory seat in 2021,
and not necessarily at Ducati,
as all rider contracts are up for
renewal in the factory Yamaha,
Honda, Ducati, KTM, Suzuki and
Aprilia teams. CN
Miller was none too
happy about talk of
Lorenzo returning
to Ducati, but it is
now confirmed he
will ride for Pramac
next year.
