Pramac rider Danilo Petrucci has been chosen as the outgoing Jorge Lorenzo's replacement at the factory Ducati sqaud for the 2019 MotoGP season.
Petrucci stepped into the Ducati fold with Pramac in '15, having spent three seasons on the woefully uncompetitive Ioda CRT machine.
Receiving a full factory GP17 last year, Petrucci scored four podium finishes to finish eighth in the standings, and has started '18 strong on the GP18 with points in all races, including a podium at Le Mans.
Confirming in France the seat alongside Andrea Dovizoso – who agreed a two-year deal to remain at Ducati prior to the Jerez race – was between himself and Pramac team-mate Jack Miller, Petrucci emerged as favourite.
“It goes without saying that for me, being part of the factory team is a dream come true,” Petrucci, who sits sixth in the current standings, said of his one-year factory deal.
“It’s a great honour to become an official rider for the Ducati Team, especially for someone like me who started in Ducati as a production motorcycle test rider.
“First of all I would like to thank Paolo Campinoti and Francesco Guidotti, who gave me the chance four years ago to race on a Ducati for the Pramac Racing Team.
Without them all this would not have been possible. I also want to thank the managers of Ducati and Ducati Corse – Claudio Domenicali, Gigi Dall'Igna and Paolo Ciabatti – who appreciated me first as a person and then as a rider and I really can’t wait to start this new adventure in the factory team.
“Now all I want to do is to finish the year in the top five in the standings and then start the new season with the Ducati Team.”
Following a tough season-and-a-half with Ducati, which only just yielded its first win at Mugello, Lorenzo was hotly tipped to leave the Italian marque at the end of the year.
Originally rumoured to be joining a Petronas-backed satellite Yamaha team, Lorenzo has been confirmed by Honda as having signed a two-year deal to switch to the Japanese marque for '19 after it announced Dani Pedrosa's departure on Tuesday.
Miller will remain at Pramac and receive identical machinery to Petrucci and Dovizioso, and will be joined by Moto2 championship favourite Francesco Bagnaia.
Petrucci's signing means only two factory spaces remain, with Andrea Iannone expected to make way for Joan Mir at Suzuki and join Aleix Espargaro at Aprilia.
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