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Ducati unveils 2019 MotoGP livery with 'Mission Winnow' branding

Ducati has unveiled the livery it will use for the 2019 MotoGP season, featuring prominent 'Mission Winnow' branding.

The Italian manufacturer took the wraps off its new colours, adorned on last year's Desmosedici bike, at its launch event at the Philip Morris R&D Cube in Neuchatel, Switzerland on Friday evening.

Andrea Dovizioso and his new 2019 team-mate Danilo Petrucci were both present for the launch, along with Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali and team general manager Gigi Dall'Igna.

The addition of 'Mission Winnow' branding means Ducati follows in the footsteps of the Ferrari Formula 1 team, with which it shares a common primary sponsor in the form of tobacco firm Philip Morris.

Ferrari added the white logos to its F1 cars ahead of last year's Japanese Grand Prix.

Ducati has not run explicit tobacco branding since the 2009 Qatar Grand Prix, but has maintained the Marlboro cigarette brand's traditional red-and-white colour scheme ever since.

The squad's official name has also changed to 'Mission Winnow Ducati Team' for the new campaign.

The branding of Ducati's parent company Audi is now also on the Desmosedici bike for the first time.

Ducati goes into the 2019 season still chasing its first riders' title since Casey Stoner's '07 triumph.

It has finished second in the riders' standings with Dovizioso for the last two years, and improved on its 2017 win tally of six with seven victories in '18.

Three of those were scored by Jorge Lorenzo, who has made way for Petrucci in the 2019 line-up and has joined Marc Marquez at the factory Honda squad this year.

While Dovizioso will be focussed on challenging for the championship once again, Petrucci's immediate goal will be to secure his ride for 2020, as he has only been handed a one-year deal.

Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti has already highlighted Petrucci's 2018 Pramac team-mate Jack Miller and Moto2 champion Francesco Bagnaia, who steps up to the premier class this year, as potential alternatives for 2020.

Dovizioso will once again be engineered by Alberto Giribuola in 2019, while Petrucci has brought Daniele Romagnoli to the factory team from his previous squad.

Lorenzo's former crew chief Cristian Gabarrini has moved across to Pramac to work with Bagnaia.

Zdroj: autosport.com