Last Thursday, La Gazzetta dello Sport had announced that Ducati had chosen Jorge Martin for the official team in 2024 and expected Marc Marquez to join Pramac. The news inflamed the Italian Grand Prix weekend in media terms, especially when the current Gresini driver closed off any possibility of moving from one satellite team to another: “It’s not an option for me,” he said in reference to racing with Pramac.
Without any official confirmation, the drivers tried to improve their chances on the track. Martin signed the pole on Saturday, but in the Sprint Marquez overtook him to go on the podium while the Madrilenian ended up in the gravel. This Sunday, Jorge drove a very solid race, always in second position, but in the end he made a mistake: he left the door open for Enea Bastianini, who took the last corner of the last lap, completing a Ducati one-two, with Pecco Bagnaia absolute dominator, surrounded by many fans not seen since the days of Valentino Rossi.
After Sunday’s Mugello race, Martin spoke to DAZN, the platform that holds the rights to MotoGP in Spain. There the Pramac rider was asked if the rumors and questions about his future, in addition to the news that he would join the official team in 2025, could have influenced him. The Madrilenian said no, but admitted that he doesn’t want to experience the same situation at the Dutch Grand Prix, which takes place on the last weekend of June.
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“It was a difficult weekend off the track, but I think we brought it home well. I hope to resolve my future this week, next week at the latest. But I want to arrive at Assen with a free mind and clear ideas. It will be important, I hope to already have a signature so as not to think about other things beyond the track”, confessed Martin.
Later, at the end of the press conference after the podium in which he shared the scenario with the official Ducati pair, the Spaniard spoke to the media and was asked, among other things, if it was important to stop Pecco’s ride ( winner in Barcelona and Mugello) ahead of Assen to maintain the lead in the championship.
“We’ll see what happens in Assen, but at the moment the main thing for me is to close my future,” clarified the Pramac rider. “This weekend was complicated, I couldn’t stay 100% focused on riding and I don’t feel comfortable in this situation. So my idea is to define what will happen with this situation.”
Martin’s message this Sunday had nothing to do with the optimism with which he arrived at Mugello on Thursday, with the “news” that he was the chosen one for the official Ducati team in 2025.
“I have no idea, I have to be honest. In the next few days we will continue to move forward. I wanted to leave the issue aside for the weekend so I wouldn’t keep thinking about it. But even if you don’t want all the information that comes to affect you, I still suffered. Friday a lot, Saturday less, Sunday I was calm and when you are calm the results come.”
Motorsport.com asked Jorge for clarification on his statements on television, when he said that he thought he was “signing a paper” and expected it to bear the Ducati name. “Nothing has changed since Thursday. I don’t know anything, we’ll see what happens and what’s best for us.”
This topic seemed closed on Thursday, but at the end of the weekend everything is still open. “Always the same, with the same options. Nothing has changed, I continue to have the same options as I had on Thursday and I am happy in the same way, ”she underlined.
When Marc Marquez was asked to comment on Martin’s words and whether he believed the scales had started to tip over the weekend, he put on a poker face while maintaining his position: “I continue to have very clear ideas and I’m calm” .
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