Reactions continue to pour out about Ducati’s arrival as a new MotoE supplier starting from 2023, following Energica’s announcement to end their relationship with the electric category after supporting it since the beginning.
Herve Poncharal, Tech 3 Team Manager, welcomes the addition of the Italian company, assuring that the competition will grow to a new level. He believes that the advances in electric mobility are improving rapidly and Ducati joins the automotive and motorcycle industries that are working flat out on all the innovations.
“Our new partner will use the latest technology. The current motorcycle concept is six or seven years old, so expect interesting new developments for the upcoming tournaments,” he said.
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Energica had turned the Ego street motorcycle into a racing version, while Ducati is going the opposite way by developing a motorsports vehicle, likely to be produced in the future for urban use.
“The concept that we will have in 2023 is going to be developed over the next year. We can expect a faster, lighter and more competitive motorcycle,” Poncharal stresses. The leader is convinced that MotoE will change with Ducati as a partner, since already Energica’s lap times as a manufacturer are at Moto3 level.
What do Changes Entail?
In Energica, MotoGP promoter Dorna had found an ally in the World Championship, and that is now changing with Ducati, a situation that could have indirect consequences for other categories.
For example, it is unclear whether riders in the Endurance World Championship (EWC) who participate there with a different brand can also ride MotoE with Ducati at the same time, or whether that would be prohibited by Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW, among others.
Currently in MotoE there are private teams like Tech 3, LCR and One Energy, which in MotoGP have close ties with KTM, Honda and Yamaha respectively. That could also be politically sensitive and generate conflict of interest.
Against this backdrop, LCR Team Leader, Lucio Cecchinello, who is also a long-time Honda partner, points out that despite their commitments to other brands, they respect the move made by Dorna Sports, MotoE’s main promoter, to ally with Ducati. “We have to respect this step, because they provide us with the motorcycles. We only have a partnership with Dorna,” he emphasized.
“We are very happy to be able to participate in MotoE and our plan is to continue because it is an interesting category. We are learning about new technologies that can play a more important role in the future,” Cecchinello stressed.
What is certain is that the decision has already been made and it is expected that with the presence of Ducati, MotoE will reach its highest point not only in terms of motorcycle performance, but also in terms of attracting fans and popularity.
Written by I Jhonattan González
