Aspar Ducati confirms MotoGP expansion plan

Ducati could expand its MotoGP involvement to seven bikes in 2012 with the Aspar squad confirming to MCN it is negotiating a deal to run a two-rider effort next season.

The Spanish squad, run by former 125GP world champion Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez, is looking to secure the lease of two GP12 machines for the new 1000cc MotoGP class.

The Aspar Team currently runs a single rider effort with Hector Barbera but Sporting Director Gino Borsoi told MCN: “We have started to think about two bikes and we have already spoken to Ducati.

“The cost is obviously a big factor but we would like to be in MotoGP with two bikes. We’re still fighting to find the money and it is not so easy when you explain the project to our sponsors.”

The Aspar squad is the biggest in the Grand Prix paddock with entries in the Moto2 and 125GP class. It plans to remain in Moto2 next season while also entering the new Moto3 class for 250cc four-stroke single-cylinder machines.

A second bike for Aspar would be a huge boost for Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta, who is under immense pressure to arrest a rapid decline in grid numbers that has seen only 17 bikes start the 2011 campaign.