I also think Ducati should keep Miller. He's a solid #2 rider and has proven time and again he won't trip up Pecco's championship race. He's always thinking about the team first and personal glory second. Better to have someone like him in the paddock than hire two divas, like a Lorenzo and Rossi, and then watch them bash fairings every race, spew out a war of words in every pre and post-race interview, and then have to build a wall in the middle of the garage...
See, here is the issue with that: it's exactly
that which sells tickets and boosts viewership amongst the wider audience.
I don't necessarily like that it occurs and it's better when they race hard on track but get along in the end but even I have to admit that it is slightly more enteratianing when it does occur: the Rossi v Lorenzo thing was why many tuned in to watch even if you weren't into bike racing, it became a tabloid sensation in both countries. The UK, Italian and Spanish media gained a lot from those days, as they did with the fall out from Rossi and Marc which his why they are constantly trying to hype up things that aren't necessarily that big of deal: Mir vs Marc for example.
Motosrsports is just one big commercial at the end of the day, no one in the new bike market is buying a Ducati over a Yamaha, Honda because they won the championship in MotoGP in any significant numbers. It's a false equivalence because most bike sales aren't even being bought in the West, it's all the sales from low displacement bikes in developing nations in Asia that keep this circus going. hence thier push into Indonesia.
And as things stand Ducati will never enter that Market for very good reason(s), and ultimately they have VAG money to keep things going as they continue to win the constructors championship and get DORNA's money.
I think what is worth mentioning is that Miller has had more time on a Ducati than any of the current 8 riders and mostly had Ducati works backing, he has had his chance after 4-5 seasons, and it never happened. Ducati need to boost sales and bring in sponsorship/ad money in their target markets: Italy. So a young Italian like Enea can bring in sponsorship money and plaster the ads everywhere in Italy which is why I think Miller is getting the boot at the end of this season.
Jack is an entertainer, for sure, but he was never going to win anything more than a few races in the GP class--he was always too much of a hot-head and inconsistent to be a real contender. The best that can happen for him is he goes back to a works Pramac on his old status, but their is talk he is going to KTM since so many are trying to bail out.
There was talk this weekend that Raul Fernandez is trying to get out of his contract to move to a satellite Yamaha, which may not even be there next season.
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