There’s plenty of racing left in 2019, but the business deals are already piling up, with more announcements from Pramac Ducati and Tech3.
First up, Pramac Ducati has finally gotten around to signing its deal with Jack Miller, despite several days of speculation surrounding a possible future for Jorge Lorenzo with the team. Yikes! This terrifying alternative future seems to have been avoided (perhaps relegated to a future episode of Man In The High Castle?), with Miller’s return now confirmed. Good for Miller, he deserved it. Don’t you worry about Ducati, though, they’ll continue to eat their own into the future.
Tech3, meanwhile, has announced it’s dropping out of Moto2, to focus on Moto3 instead. This is tied to Tech3’s deal with KTM, which also announced it was leaving Moto2 to focus on Moto3. Is it just because the KTM machines have fared poorly since switching to Triumph engines, or is it because Team Orange doesn’t want to participate in a series that strengthens its Eurobike competitor? Endless off-season speculation will undoubtedly ensue, but the official line from KTM’s bigwig in charge of Motorsport is “Feeding our KTM MotoGP academy is just very important and fundamental and this is starting on Moto3 bikes in this paddock … This will be a very strong base for young future talents and I’m really looking forward to this project, which we fully support. It’s a part of our global strategy in MotoGP. “
