On Thursday, ahead of the Indonesian Grand Prix, satellite team Ducati announced it had signed eight-time world champion Marquez for 2024, ending weeks of speculation. The path for this move was paved last week, when Honda revealed it had agreed to mutually part ways with Marquez a year ahead of the contract’s expiration, after a complicated 2023 season for both parties.
By signing a one-year deal to race with Gresini, Marquez will have to leave most of his staff – including long-time technical boss Santi Hernandez – at Honda, although he confirmed on Thursday he will be able to bring a mechanic to Gresini. On Friday, at the Mandalika circuit, Gresini team boss Michele Masini confirmed that Marquez will work with Carchedi next year.
Carchedi previously worked with Joan Mir at Suzuki, including his title year in 2020, and was Fabio Di Giannantonio’s technical boss this season. “Yes, I confirm that Frankie Carchedi will be his crew chief next season,” Masini said. “We are still talking about the mechanics. We will certainly strengthen the team with one more figure.”
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team, reacts to the image of the goat posted on social media by Gresini racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Autosport/Motorsport.com reported last week that Honda had given Marquez the green light to test the Ducati at the Valencia test after the final Grand Prix in November. Masini stated that Gresini is still talking to finalize all the details with Honda, but he hopes that everything goes in the right direction to get Marquez on the bike for the Valencia test after the race.
Marquez made his first public appearance since his move to Gresini was announced in Indonesia on Thursday. He defined leaving Honda as “the most difficult decision of my life”, deciding to make the change only last Tuesday, after having thought for a long time about what to do. He also noted that staying with Honda would have been “the easy solution”, but he needed a new challenge to try to get back to enjoying motorcycling after a difficult few years. However, Marc did not rule out the possibility of returning to Honda in the future, saying he hoped to “cross paths again”.
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