Marc Marquez woke up early last Wednesday, signed the contract that led him to wear red until at least 2026 and then celebrated by doing motocross, one of his passions. At night, almost at dawn, the Spaniard went to the Cadena SER studios, where he gave his first interview after the announcement of the promotion to the official Borgo Panigale team, where he will share the garage with Pecco Bagnaia, winner of the last two titles.
The operation came to a head last weekend at Mugello. There, the Italian brand had a strategy in mind which consisted of offering Jorge Martin the official seat next to Bagnaia and placing Marquez in Pramac, with the status of official rider in all respects but with satellite colours. However, the Catalan’s negative response to joining Pramac meant that the plans fell through.
In this attempt to try to keep both, Ducati proposed the challenge of competing for that Desmosedici on the track: at first, it would have been Martin who would have obtained the place, but if Marquez had won the title, the roles would have changed and he would have gone to race with Bagnaia.
But the former Honda rider didn’t accept this proposal either. The influence that the Cervera rider has was confirmed on Sunday evening, when Mauro Grassilli, Ducati Sporting Director, informed Martin that the one chosen to race in the official team in 2025 would be his rival. This circumstance led the Madrilenian to sign with Aprilia.
When asked directly why he had not accepted the proposed challenge, Marc Marquez was very clear, justifying the difference in conditions under which it would have taken place. He races with a 2023 Desmosedici, Martin competes with the updated 2024 model. “It’s simple, if you have to win on the track, you have to have the same weapons, I don’t have them now. But it’s not an excuse and I’m showing that I can be competitive,” underlined Marquez.
Marc Márquez, Gresini Racing, greets Gigi Dall’Igna, general director of Ducati
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The eight-time world champion also referred to the sponsor waltz that will probably trigger the team change. “Athletes not only have sports contracts, but there are others too, with sponsors who have followed me throughout my career. A multinational closes the next two years in September and cannot stick. It was inevitable,” he added.
Marquez said he was very grateful to Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati General Director. The Catalan revealed that he was the engineer himself who advocated this maneuver which has monopolized the focus of the MotoGP rider market practically since the beginning of the season: “If I’m in Ducati it’s thanks to Gigi”.
At the same time, he also thinks the most important element in the decision to choose him over Martin is the clock. “The card that matters most is the track and the Ducati engineers, from what they told me, are seeing my progression with the 2023 bike and this has weighed much more than the rest. Then, there are other factors,” reflected Marquez, determined to “fight for the title” in 2025 and, who knows, this year too. But, first of all, he set himself the goal of winning a race again, which hasn’t happened since 2021. “One of the things I’ve learned is not to obsess, because if you only think about winning, you fall a lot,” he said. .
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