Last week KTM announced it had signed Jack Miller for two years beginning in 2023, confirming his long-expected Ducati exit at the end of the current season.
For some time, it has been known that the second factory Ducati seat alongside Francesco Bagnaia was between one-time race winner Martin and Bastianini, who has won three times in 2022 aboard his Gresini-run GP21.
But rumours in recent days have linked Mir – who is looking for a new ride after Suzuki announced its shock exit from MotoGP last month – to the vacant Ducati alongside Bagnaia.
Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti said on Saturday at the German Grand Prix that no discussions with Mir have taken place and that a decision on Bastianini and Martin’s futures will be left until August now.
He also confirmed that Johann Zarco will remain at Pramac in 2023.
“Well, as we said already, we’d like to take some time, probably waiting until the second race in August to assess a little bit the situation,” Ciabatti told motogp.com.
“The target for us was to have Enea and Jorge with us next year.
“I think we’ve reached that target. Now to decide who goes in the factory team, we would like to also give Jorge a little bit of a chance to be riding the bike without physical problems and so on.
“I’ve heard Joan Mir mentioned, he’s a great rider but we never had any contact with him.
Jack Miller, Ducati Team, Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“I think the decision is going to be between Jorge and Enea for the factory team.
“No other riders are included. We will renew with Johann Zarco at Pramac.
“So, I think this closes a little bit the gossip about potential new riders coming into the picture.
“I think we have plenty of competitive riders in Ducati these days, so we need to make the correct choice among them.”
Martin recently underwent an operation on his arm to cure nerve issues that have plagued him at certain races in 2022.
KTM’s Miguel Oliveira has been linked to a Ducati move with Gresini for 2023 having seemingly turned down an offer to return to Tech3.
Honda’s Pol Espargaro is expected to return to KTM and Tech3 in 2023, while Mir has been strongly linked to Espargaro’s seat at Honda.
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