The Reason Why Ducati Refuses to Give Bagnaia, The 2023 MotoGP Champion, A Long-term Contract

Francesco Bagnaia continues to perform brilliantly with Ducati. However, Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicalli closed the opportunity to give Bagnaia a long-term contract.

The Italian racer was promoted to the factory Ducati team in 2021. In his debut season, Bagnaia immediately rose to fame by winning four wins to finish runner-up behind champion Fabio Quartararo.

After that, Bagnaia dominated MotoGP. Bagnaia chased down a 91-point deficit from Quartararo to win his first world championship title, which also broke Ducati's 15-year title drought in 2022. Then Bagnaia defended his world title after defeating Jorge Martin (Pramac) in MotoGP 2023.

Francesco Bagnaia will still be the favorite next season, which also marks his last year with Ducati. Speculation then emerged regarding the possibility of Ducati imitating Honda when giving Marc Marquez a long-term contract.

Domenicalli rejected the idea of a long-term contract for any rider. According to him, long-term contracts will only reduce competitiveness.

"It would not be fair either for the company or for him with a long-term contract," said the 58-year-old Italiano, quoted by Motosan.

"This is a competitive sport where everyone, including Ducati, has to be constantly under pressure and a long-term contract would not be good for anyone," said Domenicalli.