After Paolo Ciabatti’s departure to the motocross project, Mauro Grassilli became Ducati’s sports director in MotoGP this year. And in the first weeks, he had a challenging dossier to deal with – the renewal of Francesco Bagnaia.
The Italian was a two-time champion with the Borgo Panigale manufacturer and continuity seemed logical. However, the process that led to the signing of the new contract was not as simple as one might think. And Grassilli was taken by surprise.
The Ducati sports director revealed to Motorsport.com: ‘I come from a 20-year career in marketing, where my role was to gather the greatest financial resources possible to make the MotoGP and WorldSBK teams work, through the relationship I had with the sponsors. This was the first time I negotiated a contract where I have the wallet, the money. I thought it was easy, but in reality it was much more difficult than I imagined.’
Grassilli later explained that, despite what one might imagine, the negotiation with Bagnaia was not such a simple process: ‘Everyone took Bagnaia’s renewal for granted, but it was not nearly as easy as people might think‘.
The outcome, as we know, was positive, with the new contract announced before the Qatar GP that kicked off the season. The Ducati sports director confided: ‘The personal goal was to renew with Pecco before the first race and we did it. And not only because of his results, but also because he embodies all the values of our brand, and he is very beloved by the entire Ducati universe‘.
