If we consider that all three candidates have good sporting arguments for wearing the red suit in 2025, the previous elements are probably less obvious than speed, but no less important for the Borgo Panigale brand. Ducati is immersed in a cost containment process imposed by Audi, the company to which it belongs.
This context of “austerity” has led the managers of the Italian company to have to define their priorities, with the renewal of Pecco Bagnaia as the most immediate objective. With the future of the two-time world champion resolved, the next two files to be sorted are the selection of the rest of the drivers who will race under factory contracts, with particular attention to the one who should become the Turin driver’s pit neighbor, and the configuration of the satellite teams .
Bastianini, Martin and Marquez are going through different moments in their respective careers, and this leads them to evaluate things differently depending on the situation. Beast, on paper the most disadvantaged, is playing his second season in the factory garage and, for one reason or another, has not lived up to the expectations of Ducati, who opted for him in place of Martin two years ago . The #23 has already moved and Aprilia would be happy to welcome him.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Marc Márquez, Gresini Racing
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The Madrilenian, for his part, has already made it clear that he will race in the factory team or leave. The championship leader considers his time at Pramac over and believes he deserves a place in an official structure. After the disappointment of two years ago, the second place last year and having started this World Championship better than anyone else, Martin doesn’t know what else to do to make Ducati opt for him. And then there’s Márquez with everything he can bring, both in terms of track and media. Sporting performances will be the key to knowing who will finish next to Bagnaia, but he won’t be the only one.
“We are trying to provide all the riders with the best possible material to put them in the best mental condition for the next races, which are crucial for them and for our choice. However, whatever happens, we will have to leave out some important riders. My hands are shaking legs just at the thought of having to make this decision”, commented Dall’Igna on Sunday from Jerez, where Bagnaia and Márquez started an explosive duel for the victory – won by the former – and where Martín crashed while leading the group .
Today in Ducati almost all important decisions pass through Dall’Igna together with Claudio Domenicali, the company’s CEO. Both in the offices of the Bologna team and in the garage, there is the belief that the engineer is very excited at the idea of seeing Marquez dressed in red. Last year, Ducati repeated several times that it was not at all interested in rider number 93. However, if the rider from Cervera rides a Desmosedici Gresini, it is because Dall’Igna gave the green light to the operation. Precisely for this reason, the individual will of the Venetian genius plays a decisive role in the game of chairs that has been going on for some time now. But there’s more.
The policy of limiting investments will also be fundamental, to the point of being able to eliminate some of the candidates. “One of my main tasks is to try to reduce investments a little, both in terms of drivers and the management of satellite teams. In the past we spent too much, and now things will change”, commented Mauro Grassilli, sporting director of the Ducati from 2024, in a conversation with Motorsport.com.
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
If we understand that the Italian brand has set a base salary of around six million euros per year for Bagnaia, the amount of money he has left to please his teammate is, logically, considerably less. At the moment, the one who is most conditioned is Martin, given that the conditions negotiated at the time (2022), plus those he earned with the results, place him as one of the best paid drivers on the grid, with a figure around three and a half million per season.
In the event that Ducati decides to sign him, there is a suspicion that it could even offer him a contract with a lower base salary than what he would be entitled to in 2024, a reduction that is difficult to digest for the rider number 89, who believes he will demonstrate be in the best moment of his career.
Along this line, the economic factor would be less compromising for Márquez, who over the course of his life has accumulated more money than all his colleagues, and who has set himself the goal of wearing the red tracksuit. “The plan is working well for me. When you achieve results, the factories contact you. There have already been talks. I’m quite clear about what I want, but the good thing is that I don’t have a single alternative,” said the multiple champion, who returned to the podium in a dry race in Jerez a year and a half after the last time.
Márquez claims to have completed his adaptation to the Demosedici, an impression validated by the drifts he has taken in recent races. In Austin he crashed while leading the race, like last Saturday, before an incredible exchange of overtaking with the reigning champion until the last corner of the last lap on Sunday.
Marc Márquez goes for the grab while Jorge Martín follows forward in the Jerez sprint
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
If we understand that the Gresini rider has already regained the speed that he lacked in his last period at Honda and that he has even more power of attraction than anyone else. Therefore, it is logical to think that he has become the main threat to Martin in that mini-championship which, in principle, will end at Mugello, a stage in which Ducati has said it will assert itself. With Márquez, however, there is a non-secondary issue, linked to the traveling companions who follow him.
The Catalan is one of the main icons of Red Bull, while Ducati, in all its racing departments, is sponsored by Monster. Although it would not be the first time that an athlete changes his hat for reasons of convenience, in this case it would be truly striking given the significant role that the red bull brand has had in the driver’s sporting life.
Motorsport.com asked him directly to what extent his connection with Red Bull would be an obstacle to him joining the factory Ducati team, and his response suggests he wouldn’t think twice: “I hope the time comes when I can have the possibility of signing for the official team will happen, we will have to talk about it and evaluate the different options.
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