MotoGP | KTM reveals that it has had contact with Marquez and Martin

The MotoGP World Championship continues to put together the pieces of a heated rider market for next season. The situation worsened after the Italian Grand Prix with the choice of Ducati, which initially had bet on Jorge Martin, and then decided to focus on Marc Marquez after the pressure put on by the Cervera rider during the Mugello weekend. Thus, the current championship leader broke up with Ducati to join Aprilia.

However, in the Noale factory his teammate will not be Maverick Vinales. After several increasingly shy statements about his renewal, last Thursday it was confirmed that the Spaniard will go to KTM taking one of the two bikes from the Tech 3 team, which will have official treatment leaving GasGas. There Vinales will find Enea Bastianini, another of those damaged by the choice of Borgo Panigale.

It is clear that Ducati’s decision has marked the path of this rider market, with several brands waiting for Borgo Panigale’s step to behave accordingly. But that’s not to say we haven’t taken steps ahead of time to ensure we have a better position than other competitors.

This is what KTM did: in a press meeting after the announcement of the KTM line-up for 2025, Pit Beirer confessed that he had to move quickly after Mugello to close the deal with Vinales. Before, however, he had also had contact with other riders, including Maquez and Martin.

The head of KTM Motorsports revealed that he had spoken with the current championship leader and the Cervera rider, although he did not directly offer a contract: “Since I know both Marc and Jorge, sometimes we talk to each other, but not We never got to have a conversation about a contract, because they had their own ideas and plans. So, we took a different path very early on to get the strongest package possible.”

However, it must be remembered that Pol Espargaro, tester for the Mattighofen manufacturer, made very different statements in the latest episode of the Motorsport.com Spain podcast “Por Ojeras”: “I know that Jorge Martin had the option of getting on a motorbike of the Pierer Mobility Group. He had an offer to get on a KTM”.

“Just as Martin had it, maybe Marc Marquez also had it. I say just to say. Who knows if other top riders have also had talks, for example Enea Bastianini. This means that the brand is betting and wants to do so on top riders,” he explained Polyccio in the podcast.