Ducatti rider Andrea Divizioso has officially announced that he will be taking a sabbatical from MotoGP come 2021. The 15-time MotoGP winner announced during the Austrian MotoGP back in August that he will not be renewing his contract with the Ducatti works team for 2021.
The Italian however also admitted that he did not have a plan B although he said that his fully focus back then was on the championship title fight. Rumours have been going around that Dovizioso was holding talks with KTM, Yamaha and Honda over the position of a test rider as it is well understood that he was about to close a deal with Yamaha to test the M1 in 2020.
Dovi will now be able to put focus on his passion for motorcross racing come 2021, as it will help him to keep fully fit for staging a comeback to MotoGP in 2022 if he gets a ride.
On his Instagram handle, the Italian wrote, “Over the last few months, I have received several offers to work as a test rider in developing MotoGP projects and I am grateful for the consideration received by the manufacturers.”
“However, I have decided not to make any commitments and to remain free from formal agreements for now.
“I have an immense passion for racing. I still have the ambition to compete and fight to win. I will return to MotoGP as soon as I find a project driven by the same passion and ambition that I have and within an organisation that shares my same objectives, values and working methods.
“Now I am focused on finishing the world championship in the best possible way, and I have already started developing some projects with my partners.”
Numerous contracts will be up for renewal in 2022, though a 36-year-old Dovizioso may struggle to find a place despite his prior achievements. Dovizioso was linked to an Aprilia race seat for 2021 though it is understood he never considered the Italian marque a realistic option.
It is understood outgoing LCR rider Crutchlow had a pre-agreement in place with Aprilia – though has been linked to a Yamaha test role but it is now understood that agreement was one of intent and it expired in mid-October.
It is unclear what Dovizioso’s sabbatical will do to Jorge Lorenzo’s prospects of remaining with Yamaha in 2021 in a test rider role, with the triple world champion also admitting recently Aprilia was an option.
