Nicolò Canepa has won out over Aleix Espargaro and will retain his ride for the Estoril GP.
Last Monday, Canepa and his management met with Pramac team owner Paolo Campinoti to discuss if he would be riding the final four MotoGP rounds, but the meeting ended in a stalemate situation.
Campinoti wanting Spanish rider Aleix Espargaro, who outclassed Canepa both at the Indy and Misano GP’s, but Canepa not giving in, wanting to finish the season as he’ll be definitely out of MotoGP next year and Ducati getting called in to play mediator between the Pramac owner and Canepa.
Despite his results, the Italian rider is still liked by Ducati management, and the decision that came out of the Thursday evening meeting was that the Canepa will be riding at Estoril, despite Campinoti clearly stating his disapproval: “I would have preferred to run Espargaro, because this would have given us better information to decide who to give the second bike to in 2010, seeing that I have already has re-signed Kallio, but it wasn’t possible.
”According to Italian sources, the real reason Campinoti wasn’t allowed to drop Canepa is strictly tied to Ducati’s image.
The company has been heavily criticized by Italian media and fans in handling Stoner’s illness, how they chased after Lorenzo and Pedrosa, during Stoner’s absence, offering salaries way out of scale, while the Japanese teams now have a gentleman’s agreement to try to cut back on rider salaries.