After 𓄧winning the 2024 MotoGP title with Jorge Martin and Ducati, it's all change as Pramac becomes Yamaha's new factory-backed satell🌞ite team running Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller.
After winning the 2024 MotoGP title with Jorge Martin and Ducati, it's all change as Pramac ♌becomes Yamaha's new factory-backed satel﷽lite team running Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller.
The Pramac name arrived in MotoGP in 2002, the first year ဣof the new four-stroke rules, by entering T♑etsuta Harada on a 500cc Honda.
Pramac soon 🔯scored a major coup when it signed deals with HRC and Max Biaggi to run the Roman Emperor on an RC211V for 2003. That became a three-way collaboration when Biaggi was placed at the proven Pons team, while Pramac fielded Makoto Tamada (on the improving Bridgestone tyres) on the other side of the 🦋Pons pits.
Biaggi won two rac𒁏es for ‘Camel Pramac Pons’ while Tamada took a podium on the white and red ‘Pramac Honda’ and was dis💫qualified from another, at Motegi, for ‘dangerous riding’ after contact with Sete Gibernau, even though the Spaniard remained on two wheels.
2004 saw the two sides of the garage 🔴morph ♊together under the ‘Camel Honda’ moniker, although Tamada remained on Bridgestone and Biaggi Michelin tyres.
Luca Montiron oversaw Tamada’s side of the garage for Pramac with Pons again focussing on Biaggi, who took what would be his last MotoGP win on the way to𒆙 another third in the world championship.
But Tamada enjoyed the best season of his career, aided by the Bridgestone rubber n🌠ow surpassing Michelin at some tracks. The Japanese won in Brazil and then at home in Motegi on his way to sixth in the standings.
While the loss of Camel forced Pons to withdraw from the 2005 MotoGP season and Montiron began 🍃a new ‘JiR’ project centred around Tamada, Pramac began a new relationship with d’Antin and Ducati.
Initially only a single rider entry for Roberto Rolfo, on Dunlop tyres💧, ‘Pr🅰amac d'Antin’ expanded to a two-rider line-up for 2006.
But there were big changes for 2007, with Pramac acquiring Luis d’Antin’s♉ team, securing the latest spec Desmosedicis, switching to Bridgestone tyres and signing proven winner Alex Barros, who took the first ‘Pramac Ducati’ podium at Mugello.
An all-new line-up of Toni Elias and Sylvain Guintoli, plus title sponsorship fr🌺om Alice, arrived for 2008, with Elias claiming back-to-back rostrums at Brno and Misano.
By 2009 Honda and Yamaha had erased Ducati’s early 800cc advantage an it would take until 2015 for a Pramac rider to stand on the MotoGP podium again, despite signing the likes o♛f Aleix Espargaro (2010), Loris Capirossi (2ꦍ011), Ben Spies (2013, who retired due to injury after just two races) and Andrea Iannone (2013-2014).
It was Danilo Petrucci who put Pramac back on the rostrum, despite Prꦡamac having been ‘demoted’ to both riders on year-old Desmosedicis that season.
Team-mate Scott Redding equalled the podium feat in 2015, but Petrucci narrowly outs🉐cored the Englishman over the second half of the season - as the pair went head-to-head in a shootout to decide🍒 who would receive factory-spec bikes for 2016.
Petrucci made use of his upgraded machinery to delivery four♔ podiums and a new Pramac Ducati high of eighth in the 2017 world championship, which he equalled in 2018 alongside new team-mate Jack Miller.
When Petrucci moved to the official team for 201ꦏ9, Miller took over the Italian’s factory bikes with new rookie team-mate and future world champion Francesco Bagnaia on the year-old machines.
Miller matched Petrucci’s eighth in the standings with a𝓡 new Pramac high of five podiums, then finished runner-up three times in the covid shortened 2020 season for seventh in the world cham🌠pionship. Bagnaia also received the latest Desmosedicis for 2020 and rode to his first MotoGP podium, at Misano.
Both Miller and Bagnaia were promoted to the factory team for 2021, when Pramac ran rookie Jorge Martin alongside Johann Zarco. The Frenchman finished runner-up four times in the opening seven races, b෴ut Martin fought back from leg fractures in Portimao to finally claim Pramac Ducati’s first MotoGP win, in Austria.
With Martin a proven winner and Zarco a new Pramac best of fifth in the world championship, expectations were high for 2022. However, Pramac was rocked ▨by the departure of long-time team manager Francesco Guidotti, who was poached over the winter to run tꦏhe factory Red Bull KTM team.
Guidotti’s departure was combined with handling issues from the new Desmosedici, prompting factory riders Miller and eventual champion Bagnaia homologated a slightly different engine spec. Although both Pramac riders t🐬ook𓃲 podiums they were only eighth and ninth in the world championship.
Ducati didn’t make the same mistake twice and a more polished version of the Desmosedici began the 2023 campaign, while Pramac hired Gino Borsoi from Aspar to take over team management. The new Saturday Sprint raceꦿs also played into the hands of Martin’s explosive speed and he spent the second half of the season hunting down Bagnaia.
Martin won four grands prix and briefly took the title lead in Indonesia but fell in the Sunday race, lost victory in the Phillip Island round on the last lap after a tyre gamble, then struggled with a ‘bad tyre’ in Qatar. All of which gave Bagnaia a safe points lead heading into the Valencia finale, where Martin won his ninth Sprint of the season but crashed out of the grand prix after tangling wi𝕴th Marc Marquez.
Zarco meanwhile crowned his final Pramac campaign by breaking his victory drought, in Australia, and matching his best of fifth in the world championship. Their combined efforts gave Pramac victory in the MotoGP teams’ title, the first time it had been won by a non-factory sq💫uad.
The records continu🔯ed in 2024 when Martin, now partnered by new team-mate Franco Morbidelli, became the first In♐dependent rider to win the ‘MotoGP’ title.
Martin may only have scored three Grand Prix wins compared to eleven by Bagnaia, but kept a cool head whe🐠n it mattered most to protect the points advantage he had held for most of the season and secure the title at the Barcelona finale.
B🌸ut despite their stunning success, neither Martin nor Pramac will be with Ducat🧔i in 2025.
Martin was overlooked for the factory Ducati seat alongside Bagnaia in favour of Gresini's Marc Marquez. That sent Martin ඣinto the arms of Aprilia, while Pramac also felt slighted and later signed to become Yamaha's new satellitꩵe team.
Morbidelli, who missed all of pre-season testing due to a head injury on a superbike, salvagꦍed ninth in the world championship. The Italian will stay with Ducati via a move to VR46 in 2025.