Pramac could cut Canepa for Espargaro at Estoril
Added on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Pramac could cut Canepa for Espargaro at Estoril
Niccolo Canepa could lose his place in the Pramac Ducati team at Estoril in two weeks time to Aleix Espargaro, according to reports in Italy.
Espargaro could be offered Canepa’s place in the Pramac team at the next round in Portugal after the Spaniard impressed whilst deputising for Mika Kallio, who had himself earned a three-round promotion to the Ducati factory team in place on Casey Stoner.
With no prior knowledge of a 800cc machine or a Ducati, Espargaro put in some impressive performances in both Indianapolis and San Marino, finished 13th in America before moving up from 15th to eleventh in the San Marino Grand Prix, posting the fifth fastest race lap in the process.
Stoner’s return to action means that Kallio moves back to the satellite team but the future of Canepa is now in doubt, with Pramac bosses reportedly keen to reward Espargaro with a continued MotoGP ride.
Canepa has had a solid if unspectacular season, currently standing one place behind Kallio in the rider’s standings, matching Kallio’s best finish of eighth on the satellite bike and finishing every race bar Indianapolis, when he was forced out with a technical problem.
GPone.com claims that the rider switch ‘seems certain’ and that Espargaro “has a plane ticket to Estoril”. However, Canepa’s manager Carlo Pernat (also manager of Loris Capirossi) insists his rider has a contract until the end of the season, which he expects to be honoured. The Italian website claims however that a settlement with Canepa will be reached.
