Marc Márquez will get on the most coveted motorcycle in 2025 paddock of MotoGP. This has been confirmed by the official Ducati team, the factory that sets the pace in the premier category of motorcycling in recent years, which seals the signing of the Spaniard for the next two seasons. The Bologna brand will bring together the eight-time Spanish world champion with the three-time Italian champion Pecco Bagnaia, current defender of the crown and second in the table in 2024. The announcement of this authentic Dream Teamwhich generates both excitement and concern in the ranks of the Borgo Panigale constructor, now triggers the rest of the movements in a confused pilot market, which had been speculating for months about the complicated decision of the Italians.
“I am very happy to wear red next season with the official Ducati team in MotoGP. Practically from the first contact with the Desmosedici, I enjoyed riding and my adaptation has been very good. From that moment I understood that my goal was to follow the natural path, continue growing and move to the official team where Francesco Bagnaia has been world champion two years in a row,” comments Márquez in the firm’s official statement. “I am really happy to be able to meet this great challenge starting in 2025 and very grateful for the trust that Ducati has placed in me,” adds the Cervera rider.
After plucking the daisy with a lot of suspense and deciding, in the first instance, for Jorge Martín, current leader of the championship, Márquez’s mistake in Mugello caught the Ducati Corse leaders by surprise and immediately made them back off. Gigi Dall’Igna, guru of the factory and a true lover of the virtues of Catalan, acknowledged to EL PAÍS in Montmeló, two weeks ago, that an ideal outcome to this soap opera in the offices was “impossible.” The company’s CEO, Claudio Domenicali, said more of the same from the Italian track: “Not screwing up is almost impossible, but we are trying.”
They both sensed that their plan A, dressing Martín in red and Márquez in Pramac purple with the full support of the factory, was probably a chimera. The eight-time champion, in fact, when he found out about the factory’s roadmap, he was quick to publicly and categorically dismiss that possibility, threatening to leave for another brand. He also did not accept the following proposal: risk the official Ducati on the track. Whoever was ahead of the other in the 2024 championship would take it. Immediately, Ducati’s leaders withdrew the agreed offer from the Madrid native, who in his case did welcome risking the red motorcycle on the asphalt. Fed up, he decided to break off the negotiations and accelerate his landing at Aprilia, an agreement announced this Monday by surprise, just 30 minutes after it was signed, in a decision that was made overnight.
“Deciding on Bagnaia’s new teammate in the Ducati Lenovo Team has not been easy because we had a really strong list of riders to choose from. In the end, our decision has fallen on an undisputed talent like Marc Márquez. In just a few races he has been able to adapt perfectly to our Desmosedici, and his innate ambition pushes him to continually grow,” says Dall’Igna after the signing of the Spaniard, who has accumulated six titles, 59 victories and 104 podiums in the category. reigns in 12 seasons. “I want to thank both Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martín for all the work done with us in recent years and I wish them the best for the future. This season they are showing a truly incredible level and we are sure that they will fight for the world title until the end,” highlights the head of Ducati Corse. Bastianini, current teammate of the defender of the crown, will also leave the Italian firm at the end of the year for the GasGas team, of the KTM group, according to his representative Carlo Pernat in Rai 1.
Márquez, who after abandoning his physical and sporting ordeal of his last years at Honda, has recovered his best version and once again sees himself capable of fighting for the title thanks to the Ducati GP23 that made Bagnaia two-time MotoGP champion last year, had Offers from both Aprilia and KTM on the table. Although they were “comfortable” scenarios, feasible, he preferred to continue his fleeting adaptation to the reference bike on the grid. “I don’t feel like having to adapt to a motorcycle again, but I don’t rule it out,” he said before the Mugello event, where he finished tying up his new destiny with a textbook success and another commendable performance in his seventh race with the Desmosedici.
Third in the World Championship standings, 35 points behind leader Martín and 17 behind his future teammate on the factory team, Márquez no longer hides that his goal is to become world champion again. He before him seeks his first victory in more than two and a half years. In Gresini, a modest client structure of the Italian factory, he has rediscovered the enthusiasm for racing and the desire to see himself as a winner both on and off the tracks. Nobody rules out that he can fight to the end with the brand’s current references, despite not having the latest evolution of the machine. The Catalan also wanted to thank this new family that has embraced him unconditionally in one of his worst moments.
At Ducati they will now have to manage the commotion inside the chicken coop until the end of the campaign, when there are still 13 events and 26 scoring races left. A few months ago, no one could imagine that Márquez would finish in red next to the current defender of the crown, but the 93 has overcome the reluctance due to his character and bad reputation as a difficult teammate, claiming his undeniable talent on the track above motives. of marketing which also justify his landing in the factory team. Dall’Igna, who has already worked behind the scenes to ensure his presence in the satellite squad led by Nadia Padovani, wants to know how far Ducati can go with the help of one of the best drivers in the history of motorcycling.
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