MotoGP: Aragon incident to affect Pramac internal battle

Pramac Ducati boss Francesco Guidotti has confirmed to MCN that the incident between his riders at last week’s Aragon Grand Prix will affect the battle that his riders are currently locked in to secure the team’s sole 2017-spec Ducati Desmosedici for next season.

It was a difficult weekend for both of the duo, struggling with the rest of the Ducati-mounted riders with rear grip and spin issues. But their race was to come to an end much sooner than expected, when a collision between the duo on the second lap saw Redding in the gravel and Petrucci penalised with a ride-through penalty – an error the Italian prescribed to a technical failure.

“On the first lap, I tried to brake hard but my bike didn’t stop there was no engine braking. When I tried to pass Scott, I went alongside him and we didn’t touch very hard, but he went wide, touched the kerb and crashed. The crash wasn’t my fault, but it was my fault that he went wide. If I hadn’t gone inside him he wouldn’t have gone wide.”

However, his teammate was quick to lash out afterwards, citing previous reckless behaviour from Petrucci this year that saw Eugene Laverty suffer a similar fate at the Red Bull Ring.

“The issue was his fucking brain. I’m disappointed, because being teammates normally I give a 10% margin, but it wasn’t the first time in the race he’d hit me. On the first lap he’d already had me at turn seven, and I knew he was going to come at me strong. I held out as long as I could, them boom.”

However, speaking to MCN after the race, Guidotti confirmed that the internal championship both riders are competing in will be affected by the outcome of the race.

“It was not a good day for our team but it is a clear situation. It was a mistake by Danilo that involved his teammate and in this case I think the most fair thing is to count the position of Scott on the first lap when he went out of the track. Scott was ninth so this is 8 points and Danilo gets zero.  This is my idea and I will make this decision with Ducati. This is the best way.

“There is one factory bike available for next year so we have to let the riders race for this and make a choice.  But if the riders are not able to manage the situation as teammates then we will make the decision for them.

“I have already told both Danilo and Scott this concept. Since the beginning I’ve told them that the points are important but equally their behaviour on the track is important. So this is why I think it is correct to give Scott these points for Aragon.”