After moving to Ducati for the 2017 MotoGP season, three-time MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo has been overshadowed by team mate Andrea Dovizioso. Spaniard Lorenzo’s past season has been less than spectacular, with Dovizioso posting six victories and coming close to wresting the championship title from Marc Marquez, against Lorenzo’s two third places and one second place.
While Ducati intends to keep both riders for the 2018 season, Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti said Lorenzo will have to accept a reduced salary, reports Autosport.com. Lorenzo was lured to Ducati from Yamaha in 2016, with a reported salary of 12 million euro (RM58.26 million), while Dovizioso, who has been with the team since 2013, is on a 2 million euro (RM9.71 million) annual stipend.
As sponsor Telecom Italia has left Ducati, the team will have to look at revising rider salaries for this year, facing the fact that Dovizioso has had a much better 2017 season than Lorenzo. “What is evident is that the situation is very different compared to 2016. When we hired Jorge, he had a very important offer from Yamaha for two more years and was the current world champion,” said Ciabatti.
Ciabatti has gone on record acknowledging Dovizioso’s efforts the previous season, and said the 31-year old racer from Forlimpopoli, Italy, would be rewarded. However, an increased salary offer to Dovizioso will impact what Ducati is able to offer Lorenzo.
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