VOL. 55 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 27, 2018 P33
FRANCESCO
BAGNAIA TO
MOTOGP IN 2019
C
urrent Moto2 Championship hopeful and Val-
entino Rossi protégé, Francesco Bagnaia, will
graduate to MotoGP with Pramac Ducati in 2019,
as part of a factory contract with Ducati.
Bagnaia currently races for Rossi's Sky VR46
outfit in Moto2 on a Kalex chassis, with his gradu-
ation to the premier class coming at the expense
of Danilo Petrucci, who is rumored to be joining
the Aprilia Gresini team for 2019.
Bagnaia had been in advanced talks with satel-
lite Pramac Ducati since the beginning of the year,
but his contract will be directly with the Ducati
factory in Bologna, much in the same way Cal
Crutchlow's contract is with Honda.
Bagnaia had already ridden a MotoGP Ducati
machine in 2016, when he was rewarded for
winning two Moto3 races for the Aspar Mahindra
team, which runs Ducatis in MotoGP. He placed
fourth overall in the 2016 Moto3 season, moving
up to Moto2 in 2017 and finishing as top series
rookie in fifth place.
His teammate is widely expected to be Aus-
tralian Jack Miller, who is embarking on his first
season with the Pramac team after three years on
satellite Honda machinery. CN
Francesco Bagnaia
is one of the most
promising young
Italians in Grand
Prix and has the
backing of the
Ducati factory for
his MotoGP seat.
LEWIS HAMILTON RIDES CHUCKWALLA
WITH CAL CRUTCHLOW
C
urrent and four-time Formula One World
Champion Lewis Hamilton was in Southern
California recently with compatriot, MotoGP rider
Cal Crutchlow, as he took to Chuckwalla Valley
Raceway on a Kawasaki ZX-10R track bike.
Hamilton has long been a fan of motorcycle rac-
ing and has enjoyed a fruitful association with
MV Agusta recently, where he's helped design
several motorcycles including the F4 LH44,
but this is one of the first times we've seen
the most successful Formula One driver of his
generation scrape a knee on track.
"Cal invited me down for a day at the
track," said Hamilton. "What [Cal] does is
more hardcore than F1. The speeds these
guys do, it's insane. I'll be back here push-
ing. The back end has been sliding out. Now
I'm hooked."
"We're out here doing something completely
different to what Lewis normally does and having
some good fun," added Crutchlow.
Monster Energy made a quick clip about the
day, which you can view by clicking here. CN
Formula One
Champion Lewis
Hamilton (left)
and current
MotoGP rider,
Cal Crutchlow,
look lovingly
into each other's
eyes as the sun
goes down over
the California
desert.
