Ducati to expand to six bike effort in MotoGP

Ducati appear certain to have six bikes on the 2015 MotoGP grid, with the Spanish-based Avintia squad switching allegiance from Kawasaki to the Bologna factory next year.

Avintia currently runs Kawasaki ZX-10R machinery for Hector Barbera and Mike di Meglio, but next season it will run Desmosedici bikes from Ducati.

The expansion plan by Ducati means it will have its official factory team that currently runs Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, the two-rider satellite Pramac team and now Avintia Racing.

It is understood that Avintia Racing will campaign the latest spec factory GP14 bikes that Dovizioso and Crutchlow will finish this season on during the 2015 world championship campaign.

The deal will be similar to the opportunity offered to Pramac for this season with Colombian rider Yonny Hernandez.

Hernandez has been racing a 2013 version of the Desmosedici and has only finished outside of the points in two of the opening nine races, with a best of 10th in Mugello last month.

Ducati boss Paolo Ciabatti said: “The basis of the bikes for Avintia will be the latest spec machinery from the our official team after an evolution will arrive in Indianapolis or Brno. It is a good opportunity for Ducati and for Avintia. As we have seen this year with Yonny Hernandez, he has still been able to do good things with the 2013 bike, so the 2014 version can go even better. And apart from the bikes in Avintia they will have two electronic engineersin the box to oversee thework on the Desmosedici.”