Ducati have confirmed rumours they will be racing in the ‘open’ class in MotoGP this year.
The Italian manufacturer has said that competing in the ‘open’ category will give them more scope for developing the machines throughout the season to hopefully improve their level of competitiveness.
Their riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso have so far given positive feedback to the team’s engineers and with the deadline of February 28th to make their decision, Ducati felt the ‘open’ class was the direction to head in.
Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati Corse General Manager, commented:
“We have carefully studied the new technical regulations and have concluded that the Open option is the most interesting for Ducati, in the current situation. This year we have to keep developing our bikes throughout the season to improve our competitiveness, and the Factory option appears to be too restrictive for our needs. We are confident that the electronics package provided by Magneti Marelli and DORNA has very good quality and will allow the correct management of all the main functions of the bikes.”