Ducati will be the first of the world's major manufacturers to field an electric Grand Prix bike on the track. In addition, the Bologna-based manufacturer launches a new challenge to its rivals: from 2023; it will be the sole supplier for the electric class of MotoGP.
And so it finally happened. Finally, one of the world's leading motorcycle manufacturers openly enters the era of electric mobility. And dealing with Ducati could only happen in one way: through racing.
From 2023, Ducati will be the sole supplier of the MotoE World Cup, the electric class of MotoGP.
For those who only today discovered the existence of MotoE, we are talking about the championship reserved for electric motorcycles, organized by FIM and Dorna and affiliated with the MotoGP.
Since 2019, the year of its first edition, the manufacturer of MotoE has been Energica Motor Company. This Italian company has been designing and building electric motorcycles for over ten years. Energica's contract with Dorna is valid until the end of 2022, from there on, it will be Ducati's turn.
What does it mean that Ducati will be the sole supplier of the MotoE World Cup? Specifically, it means that Ducati will build 18 all-electric motorcycles and provide support to the teams and riders over the contract's three-year term.
But more generally, the agreement means that the MotoE World Cup will no longer be able to be considered a foreign body in the paddock of the motorcycling world championship, usurper of a space reserved for traditional bikes. Instead, MotoE has entered the motorcycling world championship to stay there and grow, as Jorge Viegas, president of the International Motorcycling Federation, had unequivocally said in 2019.
From now on, those who were able to ignore MotoE because the bikes were heavy, the races lasted a few laps, and the riders were not famous will have to wonder if they can continue to ignore a category in which a manufacturer like Ducati is directly committed.
MotoE World Cup 2021
Jordi Torres champion of the MotoE for the second time
What Energica has done in recent years is incredible: in three years, not a single one of the eighteen bikes have broken down in the race, and the speed performance has been similar to that of other motorcycles in the world. However, what we have done so far has mainly paved the way for those who will come after. MotoE remains a challenge, and it's no surprise that Ducati is accepting it. What we will see in the design and performance of electric Grand Prix bikes in the years to come is only remotely imaginable now. With this choice, Ducati positions itself as the world leader in two-wheeled electric mobility.
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