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Ducati has delivered Jack Miller and his crew chief Cristhian Pupulin to KTM’s MotoGP team following the Valencia season finale.
Miller’s move to Red Bull KTM Factory Racing was announced in June, with speculation for months now that his crew chief would follow.
That defection has now been tacitly confirmed as well, in the form of a video published on social media by the Austrian marque’s factory team.
It shows Pupulin, bound and possibly not-long gagged with tape, on the floor of the Red Bull KTM garage after apparently being dropped off by a very rowdy Ducati Lenovo Team crew.
See below for video
“Thanks for the special delivery of your crew chief, Cristhian from @ducaticorse and yourself yesterday,” reads the caption.
“We don’t think we’ve seen anything quite like it.”
Ducati had reason to be quite jovial considering it had just won the ‘triple crown’, with Francesco Bagnaia clinching its first riders’ championship in 15 years after it had wrapped up the teams’ and constructors’ titles in previous rounds.
The Ducati crew members in the video, Miller included, were wearing the same red wigs which they had donned before crashing Bagnaia’s special press conference on Sunday evening at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Upon Pupulin being cut free from his bindings, Miller uses a loudspeaker to announce, “Bis morgen,” literally meaning “until tomorrow” in German but effectively ‘see you tomorrow’/’see you in the morning’, which would seemingly date the events to the hours post-race.
With Prosecco flowing at Ducati, and the incoming KTM rider holding a can of Heineken in the video, one would hope all concerned have sobered up in time for the post-season test at the same circuit on Tuesday (local time; this evening AEDT).
That will be Miller’s first ride in MotoGP for KTM, noting he finished runner-up in Moto3 with Red Bull KTM Ajo in 2014, while Enea Bastianini replaces him at the works Ducati squad.
However, rather than going with him from Gresini Racing, Bastianini’s crew chief Alberto Giribuola is also set to join the Mattighofen manufacturer, reportedly in some sort of overarching role.
Johann Zarco recently outlined the shuffle in Ducati’s ranks, with the Frenchman’s now former crew chief Marco Rigamonti being moved from Pramac Racing to the factory squad to partner ‘La Bestia’.
Zarco will work with Massimo Branchini, reuniting them after the Frenchman’s days in, ironically, Ajo Motorsport.
“KTM took some guys from Ducati, so then Ducati takes also some guys from KTM,” he quipped.
Bis morgen, @jackmilleraus! 👋
Thanks for the special delivery of your crew chief, Cristhian from @ducaticorse and yourself yesterday. We don’t think we’ve seen anything quite like it. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/t8tR64wfqt
— Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) November 7, 2022
