And Ducati have been experts at proving they can't build a bike that is rideable to the championship.
Lorenzo would have to work pretty hard to one up his previous tenure at Ducati, but I expect that he is up to the challenge.
I think this is partially but not completely accurate. Stoner went gangbusters on that thing and was the deciding factor. That bike was highly capable the previous seasons though. Capirossi was in the hunt in 2006, and Bayliss did the business at Valencia with it. I think Cap also got a win and podiums in 2007. The bike went downhill every year after, but I think in 2006/2007 was highly capable in the right (Stoner’s) hands. Dovi is a beast and I understand his perspective. Their central disconnect is simple though. Dovi wants to be paid based on what he’s done and his past loyalty and contributions to Ducati. In his mind, why the fuck should he take a salary cut? Ducati wants to pay only for what he might do. They don’t give a shit about past loyalty or performance. They’re a business. From their perspective, why pay 8 million for 2nd? Dovi’s not likely to beat Marc unless Marc throws it away, and with the resurgence of Yamaha it’s easy to think Dovi might have his work cut out even to be 2nd best. If money is the main disconnect though, why don’t both parties make a put up or shut up deal? Dovi takes a smaller base, Ducati gives a ridiculous incentive for a championship win and some excellent incentives for race wins. Who knows about sports performance insurance? If Ducati offered him 10 million for a championship win what would the premium be? 15% maybe? Then give him win bonuses on a geometric scale. Dovi gets his money if he does well with less guaranteed, Ducati only pays if they get what they want. I understand why you’d want guaranteed money, but Ducati has a damned good point and Dovi doesn’t have a lot of leverage.
@SGVRider so, $4m in base, and $4m in bonuses if he wins the overall? That's how I'm reading your comment.
Using that theory, what responsibility does Ducati have in providing Dovi with a bike capable of taking it to MM? Lorenzo’s tank cover modification took most of the season to arrive, and his results light switched. If Dovi is sucking at the hind end of the pack, and Ducati doesn’t address failings of the bike, would they not be sabotaging Dovi’s bonus potential?
No I think they need to offer way more than that if they make his deal bonus heavy. AT LEAST 10 million (Euros? the currency is always confusing in articles) for the championship plate. Anything less is an insult. Marc is supposedly making 20 mill per season base, if Dovi beats him I think it’s fair to demand something in the 10-20 million range for total bonuses. Wins should be based on a geometric scale. Win bonuses could make up a substantial portion of the total package on the way to a ‘ship. If you start at a $100,000 base, 140% of the previous step would yield 10 mill in bonuses for 10 wins. Yeah that is a risk for Dovi and I get that’s why he’d want guaranteed money. He has to look at Ducati’s perspective too though. Ducati needs to win in MotoGP more than Dovi does. Ducati’s entire survival as a brand is dependent on winning and producing performance and image cachet. Without racing they wouldn’t still exist. They have every reason to want to win. Another MotoGP title would be worth at least 10 years of advertising to them. They still benefit from Stoner’s win 13 years ago and have probably reaped 100x whatever they spent that year on the program. Ducati loves the race wins, but the benefit/cost ratio is way lower than the plate. If they’re only going to get occasional race wins with Dovi then you may as well take a risk on a different dude who you can pay less and maybe has a better chance of taking the brass ring. Ducati probably thinks that if they can’t get titles then the exercise is almost pointless. Honda could walk away from MotoGP tomorrow and they’d be fine. Ducati has to win again to keep their brand alive.