Once upon a time, not so very long ago, there was a team that nobody loved. Their results had become ever more marginal, since a woefully underfunded season with World Superbike stars Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus. Yet though the results got worse after Hodgson and Xaus left, finances gradually started improving. Pramac, having lost their Honda tie up in 2004, found an alternative home with Luis d'Antin for 2005, and expanded to field two riders in 2006. But with the team coming dead last in 2006, Pramac decided to take an entirely different tack, pouring in large amounts of money, securing greater factory support from Ducati, a competitive tire package from Bridgestone, and signing a big name rider with Alex Barros. The Brazilian veteran's podium at Mugello was proof that Pramac's strategy was the right one, and the team's role is becoming more and more a junior factory team, rather than a factory-supported satellite team, a subtle, but very important distinction.

Consequently, the ugly duckling of 2006 is very much the swan of next season, with the names associated with Pramac d'Antin for next year more like a list of up and coming young talent, rather than the Dorna-supported nationalities and paid riders of just a few years ago. With so many names being linked to the team, it seems timely to go through the possibilities and probabilities of who will be riding for the team in 2008.

With pressure on the d'Antin team from Ducati to field young riders, where they can be evaluated and groomed before moving up to a possible role in the official factory team, it's unsurprising that most of the potential candidates are very young. Riders such as Toni Elias, Sylvain Guintoli, Alex de Angelis and Chaz Davies are all in their early 20s, and have shown much promise. The rider closest to actually signing a deal is probably Sylvain Guintoli, who is said to have signed a pre-contract with the d'Antin team to ride next season. Guintoli has performed fair better than expected this year at Tech 3 Yamaha, regularly beating his veteran team mate Makoto Tamada. What's more, his technical feedback is good, and having led at his home race and set the fastest time in one session at Misano, he clearly has plenty of potential.

The other strong candidate is Toni Elias, who also has an offer from the d'Antin team, according to Spanish sports daily Marca. But Elias is far from sure to move to d'Antin, as Fausto Gresini will be keen to retain the popular Spaniard, with the departure of current team mate Marco Melandri to Ducati making finding sponsorship that much harder. And the high-pressure sensationalism of the Spanish press has also thrown up the odd red herring in the past, such as the news that Dani Pedrosa was close to signing with Kawasaki, a story reported by MotoGPMatters.com as well.

Another name being constantly linked with d'Antin is that of San Marino native Alex de Angelis. Currently standing 2nd in the 250cc championship, de Angelis is keen to move up to the MotoGP class. But with just a single win to his name, he is not holding a strong hand in the negotiations. Although he could bring money to the table from the San Marino government, he has yet to show himself capable of putting up a fight against the rampant Jorge Lorenzo.

The wildcard of the bunch could well be Chaz Davies. The 20 year old Brit left the 250 series last season, after running into sponsorship troubles with his privateer Aprilia. Since then, he has been competing in the AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme championships on a privateer Yamaha, where he has impressed everyone, regularly beating the factory bikes. Drafted in to replace Alex Hofmann at Laguna Seca, after Sylvain Guintoli rather ironically took Alex Hofmann out in the first session of free practice, probably ending the German's career in MotoGP, Davies impressed both engineers and team managers by learning quickly and doing exactly what his team asked of him session after session.

So impressed were Ducati that Davies has been offered a chance to test at Mugello this week, running an official factory test alongside Vittoriano Guareschi, Ducati's works test rider. There is a very strong possibility that Davies could secure a ride with d'Antin next year if he performs as well at Mugello as he did at Laguna Seca.

The other two names linked to Pramac d'Antin are much older. First, there is current rider Alex Barros. The Brazilian veteran has an option to stay with the team for next year, but despite a podium at Mugello, Barros has not really lived up to expectations. The team were hoping for regular visits to the podium, but Barros has so far only managed to be a top 8 regular, rather than a top 5 regular.

Another veteran being mentioned is Max Biaggi. But Biaggi is the first name to be raised whenever a vacancy arises in MotoGP, and so his candidacy should be viewed with some skepticism. When you consider that even Pramac's more generous coffers are unlikely to be able to stretch to Max's salary demands, and the fact that Biaggi currently seems perfectly happy in the World Superbike paddock, a return to MotoGP seems highly improbable.

So where does that leave Alex Hofmann, the team's other current rider? Hofmann is currently having probably his best season in MotoGP since he came to the series, but that, and his German nationality, which helps Dorna sell the series in a very important market, is unlikely to save his ride. Although Hofmann has done well, scoring his best ever finish this year at Le Mans, the general feeling is that The Hoff has had his chance, and failed to take it. Add this to the injuries he has suffered this year, and it looks like Hofmann will be a casualty of this year's MotoGP musical chairs.

So, who will take next year's Pramac d'Antin Ducati ride? At this stage, it's too early to tell, but it seems certain that the course set out at the end of last year, with closer collaboration with Ducati, will continue, and with some success. The concept of functioning as a junior factory team is fundamentally sound, allowing young talent to grow until they are ready to step up to the official factory team. The only fly in the ointment in that scenario is the factory team itself. With Casey Stoner only 21 years of age, and Marco Melandri 25, the factory Ducati riders don't look like being ready to step aside any time soon.