The MotoGP rider under most pressure in 2019

Among the 12 factory riders in MotoGP this year, one finds himself in a unique - and, some would say, somewhat precarious - position heading into the new season.

Danilo Petrucci certainly has big shoes to fill in 2019. He was handed the chance of a lifetime by the works Ducati outfit in what many observers regard as a hastily-made decision by company CEO Claudio Domenicali, who had lost patience with star signing Jorge Lorenzo's lack of progress.

The decision was made after the Le Mans race last May, at which point Petrucci was the best Ducati rider in the standings. Two weeks later, Lorenzo scored his first win in red leathers, but it was too late; the decision to axe the three-time MotoGP champion had already been made.

Almost as soon as news emerged of Lorenzo switching to Honda for 2019, Ducati announced Petrucci had got the nod to replace him - the Italian winning out over Pramac team-mate Jack Miller to secure the ride alongside Andrea Dovizioso in the works squad.

But the fact that Petrucci was only handed a one-year deal immediately suggested that Ducati did not have full confidence in its new signing. After all, the other factory teams to change riders heading into 2019 (Suzuki, Aprilia, KTM and, of course, Honda) all stuck to the conventional two-year pattern, with Andrea Iannone hinting at an agreement with Aprilia that stretched beyond even that.

Petrucci claimed at the time that Ducati had offered him a 'one-plus-one' deal, and he turned down the 2020 option in the hope of renegotiating a better deal if things went well. The fact that a conventional two-year deal was never on the table smacks of the team wishing to keep its options open.

And why shouldn't it? As well as Miller, who had an up-and-down but ultimately promising first year on Ducati machinery in 2018 after a few tough seasons with Honda, it can also boast Moto2 champion Francesco Bagnaia, a rider thought of by some to be Italy's next big MotoGP star, on its books.

Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti even admitted to Autosport recently that it regards Miller and Bagnaia as "good candidates" to partner Dovizioso in 2020, along with Petrucci himself - but that's hardly a vote of confidence in the latter, one could say.

Last month, Petrucci made his debut in factory Ducati colours during the team's launch event in Switzerland, his leathers adorned with the team's new Ferrari-esque 'Mission Winnow' branding. And talk of his job security was, unsurprisingly, high on the agenda when he addressed the media.

"Jack and Pecco want my bike, it's not a secret, but for this year it's mine and I want it to be mine also in 2020, 2021!" Danilo Petrucci

"Every year is important," Petrucci insisted. "Last year was important [just] the same, the previous year was important. Every year we say this is the most difficult season in MotoGP. Because it's true.

"For sure a one-year contract doesn't let me relax. But I never had chance to relax since I joined MotoGP. I have to prove to myself to be a factory rider. But next year will be the same.

"Next year all the riders have the same situation, so this year for me is important, I have maybe more time because there is not the rush like there was last year to close the contracts because the top riders are already [signed]. I can focus on my performance from the beginning.

"Jack and Pecco [Bagnaia] want my bike, it's not a secret, but for this year it's mine and I want it to be mine also in 2020, 2021!

"They are two fast riders. But I know if I do my best and every year I improve my results, if I can continue like this, I will be on top I hope."

Petrucci makes an interesting point. Last year's rider market gave the term 'silly season' new meaning, with several contracts (including Bagnaia's) being signed before the season had even started, and the full factory line-up for 2019 was more or less settled seven races into the season.

This year, with so many riders already locked in place for 2020, Petrucci should get slightly longer to prove himself worthy of keeping his bike than, say, Lorenzo was given last year.

Barring any shock rider-market events, Miller and Bagnaia have nowhere else to go as far as factory teams are concerned, and so will most likely be at the mercy of Ducati to decide their futures.

Still, the stresses that come with being a factory rider are something that Petrucci has never experienced before in his career, which has so far comprised two seasons with the minnow Ioda team and four at Pramac, the last two of which were spent on a current-spec bike. How he deals with that in the pressure-cooker environment of a race weekend, as opposed to testing, remains a major unknown.

Another thing that the 28-year-old will be dealing with for the first time in his tenure at grand prix level is having a team-mate who is almost without doubt a better rider.

"I never had this, a team-mate who on paper is better than me," admits Petrucci. "Jack, last year we challenged [each other] a lot, we made many races together and in the past Scott [Redding] was at the same level, but in the end of the championship I was higher than my team-mates.

"This year it's the opposite. I have to look to another rider who I can only learn from. To stay close to him is a big help, we need each other. Andrea wants to win the championship, and I want to be useful for him and for Ducati, to make a great season and fight for the top five all the races."

Ducati has set Petrucci the goal of winning his first MotoGP race in 2019 (he's finished runner-up four times in the past, most recently at Le Mans last year) and contending for podium finishes regularly. To match up to those lofty standards, he'll need as much help as he can get.

The good news for him is that Dovizioso, after two years of frosty relations with Lorenzo, has proven to be very accommodating towards his new partner, even going so far as to share his doctor and psychologist with Petrucci - who in turn has moved to Dovizioso's home town of Forli so they can train together.

Petrucci recalls Dovizioso telling him: "'In the last few years I improved because I stay with these people. Now these people are available for you, because if you are very fast this year, this year can change your life. You have nothing to lose'.

"I said, 'OK, but why are you doing this, why are you telling me your secrets?' He said, 'I have my own business, and I need your help. Since the first test I will need you for comparison, because I know you are fast in certain situations, and you can beat me as well. We can help each other, riding together, from motocross [in training] to MotoGP'.

"When I start to work together with Dovi, and training together in his place with a motocross bike, he said, 'What are you going to do, the Olympics or MotoGP?' For me it was normal to train three hours a day. He said, 'You don't have to focus on the quantity, but on the quality'.

"I think Danilo has more potential than everybody thinks" Andrea Dovizioso

"'You have to train shorter but more intense for what you need. My doctor and my psychologist will help you to understand how your body is and your mind, and what you need to get better'."

Of course, some would argue that Dovizioso has offered Petrucci a helping hand for his own ends, in the hopes of keeping a rider he does not perceive as a particular threat as his team-mate for another year and avoiding an early promotion for a more promising youngster.

But, as Petrucci himself hinted at, Dovizioso needs a strong team-mate to have any hope of taking the fight to five-time champion Marc Marquez - not someone who will necessarily follow team orders, which Lorenzo was famously reluctant to do, but who can take points away from Marquez and the other championship contenders on tracks where the Ducati has an advantage.

Then there's the fact that the pair clearly get on well - there isn't the same clash of personalities that existed between the cool, calculating 'Professor' Dovizioso and the prickly, occasionally enigmatic three-time champion Lorenzo, which led to several high-profile bust-ups in their two seasons together.

As far as professional sportsmen go, Petrucci is modest (although that shouldn't be confused with a lack of self-belief) and has a great sense of humour that belies his determination to succeed. As one of the tallest riders in MotoGP, he has also had to work harder than most at keeping his weight down.

For Dovizioso's part, the 2017 and '18 championship runner-up isn't underestimating his new companion, who he feels has yet to show the world what he's truly capable of.

"I think Danilo has more potential than everybody thinks, but to show the real potential is difficult," opines the 32-year-old. "You have to work on a lot of details and learn how to improve.

"We created a different situation, he will live close to my city, we will train a lot together on the bike. He is able to work on some other stuff like me, and I think that can help him a lot in his situation.

"He is so fast, already in the past two years he showed a lot of speed, but he has to learn some other parts and I think we can do good work together."

Petrucci adds: "Working together with Andrea, especially, I know it's a change in his way of life. It's quite different, he's more conscious of his potential. This makes me very calm and positive for the future."

It's clear a rider of Petrucci's calibre is unlikely to ever get a better chance in his career than the one he's been handed this year - and certainly not in such a friendly and accommodating environment. Now the onus is squarely on him to make the most of it.