– Hi, it’s me, I wanted to tell you that I miss you, let’s get back together, I’ve changed.
– Me too. He goes away, comes back to me.
A love story.
In a motorcycle world distracted by much more fashionable and sparkling events (the Tanal / VR46 case , the return of Dovizioso, the firing of Vinales and his contract withAprilia), the greatest “ undo ” of the decade has almost gone unnoticed . The most sensational and perhaps unexpected backfire move as well as apparently illogical and inappropriate: the one between Bautista and Ducati Aruba.
In reality, those who have described at length interlocutory phases, passages, negotiations, market movements, competition, even managing to be officially denied, spoke for nothing, since there were none.
Because at a certain moment, two entities that had never quarreled, Ducati and Bautista, magically came back together as if two days and not two years had passed the both suffering because of each other’s lack.
Bautista and Ducati, even though it seemed different at the time, never quarreled. There was only coldness.
Missing the World Championship target, lacking dialogue because of others and perhaps even the money, they simply did not try very hard to find an agreement.
HIM: On Bautista’s side, the bungling
Bautista went to get the money, it’s true, but he was also confused by Marc Marquez’s explicit and winking invitation, who had illustrated the HRC SBK project in Spain as a winning one.
Probably it is, as it is evident that Honda has committed important resources, but it is precisely the bike that is wrong. The CBR is a street bike lent to racing, made by Honda to suit everyone. A motorcycle to sell and not a war machine that works in the hands of a few.
The Ducati, on the other hand, is a racing bike with a license plate. Just for the finest riders who know the. The brave tamers who also use their brains.
Feeling desired humanly and financially, Bautista listened to Marc Marquez and threw himself blindly into something we all know didn’t work. It was precisely the impact with the CBR that made Alvaro understand , (unlike Haslam he seeks victory before retirement and not retirement instead of victory), that he had to take the reverse path.
For him it was all clear only later, when the red bike was far away. Giving up money and security to end a winning career was irresistible and honorable.
HER: Ducati, sophisticated and capricious.
We don’t know if it’s the best bike of the lot. It is certainly the most prototype amongst a bunch of stock based motorcycles. Like all precision instruments, it gives what it receives and needs a MotoGP rider who is ready to make it race in Superbike.
Ducati. Capricious and to be deciphered, both the bike and its men, have often made incomprehensible choices with riders.
“He contacted us – says Stefano Cecconi, Ducati Aruba Superbike Team Principal – and we were struck by the fact that he was not someone we had to try to persuade to stay, but one who asked us to come back. He gave up on a more comfortable salary than ours for another two years, in exchange for an annual at less money, just to get back to winning, with our team and our bike. ”
In these terms, even the dark moments are easier to forget.
“Analyzing it well – continues Cecconi – the results of the second part of the season are due more to the configuration of the calendar, very favorable at the beginning with more MotoGP tracks and more hostile in the second part, with more old style tracks , than to real ones. errors. The mistakes were few. We are missing one like Bautista. It is true that he lost a world championship. But to lose an almost won championship, you almost have to almost win it. ”.
A declaration of love between two entities who knew what to expect from each other and who were ultimately disappointed more with themselves than with their partner.
THE FRIENDS OF HIM AND HER
Battistella, the manager of Bautista and the managerial part of Ducati, in 2019 were the actors of a tragicomic misunderstanding. We know the result that in the end disappointed everyone, but the reasons are perhaps more situational than related to the will and due more to friction with the top than with the men on the track. With the same parties struggling hard on the Dovizioso issue, the Spaniard lost the most. A bit like two friends who should intercede to get two partners back together, and instead argue with each other for other reasons.
THE OTHER: Scott Redding
That desire not to stay, trying to be convinced of the contrary by asking for more money, more guarantees, more everything, stamping your feet and trying to be begged to stay, with Ducati it doesn’t work even when you win.
And it does note help making it too easy when you arrivel and you don’t get what you promised. The recent surge is as surprising as it is belated. It was long over already.
EXTRA STORY: Rinaldi’s corner and Petrucci
Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s option , has a small corner but is dry and safe.
Never questioned, Rinaldi is the Bologna investment. The renewal is clear and the lack of results is not attributed to Italian.
And anyone looking for the history of Petrucci’s movements at all costs will be disappointed.
Even if actually asked, he was never in the match, neither to replace Redding, nor to go in place of Rinaldi.
The Italian was waiting for KTM and KTM somehow arrived.
The relationship with Ducati has never gone beyond a preliminary chat. It’s always nice to spice things up and enrich the stories, but sometimes certain things just don’t exist.
A FINAL TO BE WRITTEN
Now that all the pieces are in place, how will it go between Ducati and Bautista? It will be enough to wait and it is not important to know now if it will work.
It was just niece to tell the story.
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