Dovizioso to leave Ducati at the end of 2020 MotoGP season

Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati will not renew their partnership for the 2021 MotoGP season, bringing an end to an eight-year partnership in the premier class.

Dovizioso joined Ducati back in 2013 and was an instrumental part in bringing it back to the front of the field, winning 13 races between 2016 and 2020 and finishing runner-up in the championship for the past three seasons.

While Dovizioso remaining with Ducati for 2021 looked a likely scenario at the start of the year, talks between both parties stalled during the coronavirus lockdown.

Ducati wants to move away from big-money rider contracts in light of the financial crisis caused by coronavirus, while Dovizioso has been unwilling to take a substantial pay cut.

On Thursday at the Red Bull Ring, Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi said a decision on Dovizioso’s future would be taken after next weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix.

However, after a meeting between Dovizioso’s manager Simone Battistella and Ducati on Saturday morning in Austria, he has confirmed Dovizioso has taken the decision not renew his deal with the team for 2021.

Battistella said in June that a sabbatical was an option for Dovizioso in 2021 should he not be handed an acceptable deal for Ducati.

With the only factory ride outside of Ducati up for grabs being at Aprilia, which is currently waiting for Andrea Iannone’s doping case to be resolved in October before finalising its 2021 plans, Dovizioso now looks unlikely to remain on the MotoGP grid next year.

Dovizioso to leave Ducati at the end of 2020

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