You may remember that we reported earlier in July that Jorge “Aspar” Martinez was closing-in on realizing his dream of racing in the MotoGP series. Well, that day is finally upon us now. While at Donington Park this past weekend, Aspar announced that a deal with Ducati had indeed been reached.
The Spanish team principle will run a satellite Ducati team with a solitary bike, however a rider has yet to be determined. Alvaro Bautista, the most logical choice to pilot Aspar’s Ducati, has said that within the next few weeks he will make a decisions as to whether he will join MotoGP. Should he decide to move up to the premiere class, you can bet that he will land on the Spanish team.
Starting in 2010, Aspar will have just the lone bike, but 2011 should see an expansion of two bikes. Speaking about finally moving into MotoGP, Aspar commented as to why he has been so long in the process:
“It seems that after three years we are finally able to achieve our dream of presenting a MotoGP project. It’s been three years of fighting and looking for the best option and, after sounding out various factories, we have finally reached an agreement with Ducati. I hope that this will be a fruitful arrangement that will continue in the long term. In theory we will have one rider in 2010, with the idea being to expand to two in 2011.”
If GP racing was Monopoly, Aspar could build a Hotel on Dorna Lane. 2010 will have the Spaniard dipping his fingers into 125GP, Moto2, and MotoGP. Aspar hopes to announce who will ride with him by the time MotoGP gets to Brno. By that time, we should certainly know whether or not Bautista will continue on with a Martinez backed team.
Originally, Bautista was resistant to the idea of riding on the Ducati Desmosedici GP9. However, at Donington the young 250cc rider seemed to be changing his tune:
“I always want to choose the best bike, and it seems like Stoner’s riding style is very similar to mine. He rides the front end hard too. If he can ride it, why shouldn’t I be able to?”
No matter who is at the helm, you can be sure that Carmelo Ezpeleta is happy to have once again a full-grid scheduled for the upcoming season.
Source: MotoGP
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