Miller's Factory
Ducati in Doubt
J
ack Miller's third place at
the recent Grand Prix of The
Americas could not have come
in a timelier manner as questions
continue to be raised regarding
his future.
The Australian has been the
target of much speculation of late
after a breakout performance
this season from Enea Bastianini
at Gresini Ducati and Pramac
Ducati's Jorge Martin, with a few
paddock insiders suggesting
a deal between Martin and the
factory Ducati team for 2023 may
already be in place.
Despite this, Miller is in good
stead with the Italian manufac-
turer and the possibility of rejoin-
ing the Pramac Ducati team—with
whom he competed from 2018-
2020 in essentially a straight
swap with Martin—is still in the
cards.
"It wouldn't make any differ-
ence to me," Miller said when
asked about whether he would
like to compete with the factory
team or Pramac in 2022. "I'm
where I want to be, I'm living my
dream. The bikes are the same,
so it wouldn't make any differ-
ence as far as I'm concerned."
The wildcard in all this is of
course Bastianini, who has
made no secret of his desire to
be in the factory team alongside
Francesco Bagnaia, who has a
contract with Ducati until the end
of 2023. Should he fail to move
up to either the factory or Pramac
squad for 2023, it is likely the
Gresini team will be outfitted with
full factory GP23 machinery. Bas-
tianini currently races on a GP21
bike.
CN
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 15 APRIL 12, 2022 P29
Zanetti Discharged
From Hospital
F
ormer MotoAmerica rider
Lorenzo Zanetti was dis-
charged from hospital following
a violent crash in race two of the
Italian Superbike Championship
at Misano.
The Italian, who made waves
in America in 2020 by taking
Ducati's first MotoAmerica-era
win at Indianapolis, crashed his
Bronco Racing Ducati, and suf-
fered a punctured lung, broken
ribs and a heavily broken shoul-
der. He also
required an
operation on
his spleen.
Doctors
have not given
a timeline in
which Zanetti
can return to
racing but his
place in the ERC Ducati World
Endurance Team for the upcom-
ing Le Mans 24 Hours will likely
be taken by former WorldSBK
number two and Daytona 200
winner Chaz Davies.
CN
Jack Miller might
be headed back to
Pramac, but it makes
no difference to the
man himself.
PHOTO: GOLD & GOOSE
Lorenzo Zanetti
has a long road
ahead after a big
get-off in Italy.
PHOTO: GOLD & GOOSE
