After 24 podiums, near-misses and 19 years Pramac Racing finally wins in MotoGP
It may have taken a long time but Pramac Racing can say it was 'best late than never' as it finally breaks MotoGP victory duck after almost 20 years
Pramac Racing boss Francesco Guidotti has hailed Jorge Martin after the rookie delivered a sensational maiden victory for the privateer team after almost 20 years and numerous near-misses.
The Italian outfit is a stalwart of the MotoGP paddock having made its debut (under the D’Antin banner) back in 2002 at the start of the four-stroke era.
Over the next 19 years it has faithfully served as Ducati’s satellite team, but while the factory outfit has picked up numerous wins at the highest-level, Pramac had never achieved the feat and instead notched up 24 seconds and thirds. This is in contrast to other satellite teams - such as LCR Honda, Petronas SRT Yamaha and now Tech 3 KTM - doing so.
Appropriately enough, the Styrian MotoGP was the scene for another great ‘duck breaking’ in 2020 after Miguel Oliveira clinched victory for Tech 3 Racing to end its 21-year wait for glory.
Ironically, back then Tech 3’s win was arguably at the expense of Pramac’s after Jack Miller got crossed up in his first for the win with Pol Espargaro, thus allowing Oliveira to out-drag them to the line.
On this occasion, however, it was a different story with Martin winning the race from pole position, his second of the year. The young Spaniard lost the lead at the start of the race but after getting back ahead on lap three, withstood intense pressure from Joan Mir to eventually ease out a comfortable winner.
The achievement is made all the more impressive when you consider Martin is effectively competing in only his sixth MotoGP race having been forced to miss four events through an injury sustained at Portimao.
It was also achieved in spite of team-mate Johann Zarco, who sits second in the standings and is in with a shout of the title, but is yet to win a race for the team.
“This is Pramac’s first victory in MotoGP and having won it with a rookie is incredible,” beamed Guidotti in quotes supplied to GPOne. “We were looking for this victory rather than waiting for it, with Danilo Petrucci since 2015, also here with Jack last year, and in Valencia. Doing it with a rookie is incredible when you think he is in his fifth and a half race.”
Praising Martin for quickly getting up to speed in MotoGP, Guidotti points out he is an example of a new generational approach to racing in MotoGP, one that he thinks will see the standard in the series elevated.
“[Jorge] is a new generation of rider, with great learning and speed. Ducati has many systems, different mappings and other functions and Jorge immediately started using them, making little mistakes, then his comments are very reliable.
“If this is the new generation, the current limits will drop a lot. With more experience, what will you be able to do?"
