2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship

[Seanspeed]

So Martin to get the factory seat.

Marquez has refused Pramac, and is seemingly looking to leave Ducati altogether after being looked over. Which I get, he's not some up and comer that needs to prove himself in a lower team first, and wont be happy with this situation.

Where that leaves Marquez I dont know, cuz Ducati is just so clearly the best bike on the grid that anything else is a step back.

[cheeRS]

So Martin to get the factory seat.

Marquez has refused Pramac, and is seemingly looking to leave Ducati altogether after being looked over. Which I get, he's not some up and comer that needs to prove himself in a lower team first, and wont be happy with this situation.

Where that leaves Marquez I dont know, cuz Ducati is just so clearly the best bike on the grid that anything else is a step back.

Not really, or at least not yet. The media jumped the gun to try to get official statements out of Martin and Marquez, but both of them basically said, "no, this isn't true". If you read here, you'll see that Ducati has not announced anything:
https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10497 ... eclaration

Here's what I think is going on:

-Ducati's ideal scenario #1 would be to sign Martin to partner with Pecco and have Marquez move to Pramac so he can get this wish for a factory/current bike. I think the media assumed this was 99% certain, but Marquez put an end to that. You can see that he's extremely comfortable and happy at Gresini with the family like atmosphere and his brother of course. He doesn't want to switch teams again and I think his ego (deservedly so) won't let him move to another Satellite team. Marquez was only ok going to a satellite team to see if "he still has what it takes" as he has said. Now that he's more than proven he still has the same talent of the 2013-2019 years, he's ready to step back up to a factory team.

-Now that the Pramac option is no longer on the table, I think Ducati is thinking really, really, hard about signing Marquez over Martin. Everyone is saying that Martin "deserves it" but I think it's clear that Marquez is still the most talented rider on the grid, not to mention a many-times world champion. The problem is that they might not be able to give Marquez the salary he wants and they've already committed to Pecco so hard as their #1 rider.

-If Martin does get signed by factory Ducati, the only way Marc is staying on a Ducati is if he gets the '25 bike with Gresini, but that can only happen if the factory negotiates a 1 bike each split with Pramac, which might not be possible. Otherwise, Marc's going to KTM, in my opinion. We've seen how fast Acosta is on the GasGas bike, and I think Marc can win on any bike that has even a sniff of competitiveness.

-BUT, if I were Ducati, I'd want to be competing against Martin on an Aprilia, not Marc on a factory KTM.

[Seanspeed]

So Martin to get the factory seat.

Marquez has refused Pramac, and is seemingly looking to leave Ducati altogether after being looked over. Which I get, he's not some up and comer that needs to prove himself in a lower team first, and wont be happy with this situation.

Where that leaves Marquez I dont know, cuz Ducati is just so clearly the best bike on the grid that anything else is a step back.

Not really, or at least not yet. The media jumped the gun to try to get official statements out of Martin and Marquez, but both of them basically said, "no, this isn't true". If you read here, you'll see that Ducati has not announced anything:
https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10497 ... eclaration

Here's what I think is going on:

-Ducati's ideal scenario #1 would be to sign Martin to partner with Pecco and have Marquez move to Pramac so he can get this wish for a factory/current bike. I think the media assumed this was 99% certain, but Marquez put an end to that. You can see that he's extremely comfortable and happy at Gresini with the family like atmosphere and his brother of course. He doesn't want to switch teams again and I think his ego (deservedly so) won't let him move to another Satellite team. Marquez was only ok going to a satellite team to see if "he still has what it takes" as he has said. Now that he's more than proven he still has the same talent of the 2013-2019 years, he's ready to step back up to a factory team.

-Now that the Pramac option is no longer on the table, I think Ducati is thinking really, really, hard about signing Marquez over Martin. Everyone is saying that Martin "deserves it" but I think it's clear that Marquez is still the most talented rider on the grid, not to mention a many-times world champion. The problem is that they might not be able to give Marquez the salary he wants and they've already committed to Pecco so hard as their #1 rider.

-If Martin does get signed by factory Ducati, the only way Marc is staying on a Ducati is if he gets the '25 bike with Gresini, but that can only happen if the factory negotiates a 1 bike each split with Pramac, which might not be possible. Otherwise, Marc's going to KTM, in my opinion. We've seen how fast Acosta is on the GasGas bike, and I think Marc can win on any bike that has even a sniff of competitiveness.

-BUT, if I were Ducati, I'd want to be competing against Martin on an Aprilia, not Marc on a factory KTM.

All reasonable speculation, yea.

I'd still be nervous trying to beat Ducati on a KTM, though. Acosta has been fast, but seems to flatter the pace a bit by pushing too hard early on and often not having anything left by the last third of the race. And it's just plain frustrating racing against Ducatis because of their acceleration. Even if you can go a bit quicker, they are super hard to overtake/stay in front of.

[Dunlay]

It's official! Marc is joining factory Ducati for 2025.

[Chuckjr]

From 2 hours ago…

https://www.the-race.com/motogp/marc-ma ... ia-switch/

[Cs98]

From 2 hours ago…

https://www.the-race.com/motogp/marc-ma ... ia-switch/

Marc and Lewis in red for 2025.

[AMG.Tzan]

Wow! How the tables turn in just less than 24 hours…

Marc basically bullied his way into the factory seat by publicly not accepting the Pramac seat! Pretty much shows who’s still the king of Motogp even without winning a race in 2+ years…

For me that was the best option for Ducati! Martin has nothing to offer to the team! He’s basically a second Bagnaia, maybe a bit worse at times! Last time Ducati made a choice between two riders based on results alone it ended up backfiring (look Bastianini)

Marc is bringing so much more stuff to the team and Motogp itself! Technical, marketing, talent everything! And it will be epic for the championship! I love when teams dare and do such moves to put two great riders in the same team! Like Ferrari will do in 2025 too!

I was listening to Ross Brawn before the start of the race and he was saying “oh don’t disrupt the harmony of the team…so get Martin”! I don’t care about the harmony mate! We, fans are basically paying you millions for the entertainment…give us the best you’ve got instead of boring stuff like the Schumacher-Ferrari, Vettel-Red Bull and Verstapen-Red Bull years where the teams have been reluctant to put a great driver in their second seats just so that their top driver doesn’t lose his “harmony within the team”…

I’m so fired up for 2025! Just bring it on…

[Chuckjr]

Pecco now officially pissing his pants knowing the beat down coming his way in 2025. LFG!

[cheeRS]

From 2 hours ago…

https://www.the-race.com/motogp/marc-ma ... ia-switch/

Marc and Lewis in red for 2025.

I can't wait! I loved the glory years of 2013-2020 where either Marc or Lewis - or several times BOTH - won the championships. I always felt that no matter what happened (personally) during the weekend, if Marc and Lewis both won, it was a good weekend

On a slightly different topic, I thought it was pretty clever for Marc to look the media dead in the eye and say 'look, I'm not going to Pramac, so get that out of your head'. He was saying it as much to the media as he was to Pecco and Martin. There was this media narrative that really had no basis in reality that Martin would go to factory Ducati, Marc would switch to Pramac and get the current bike, and all would shake hands and smile. Like Marc has implied many times, this year at Gresini is basically a glorified testing year for Marc. He wanted to see if he still has "it". And now that he knows he does, it's time to make plans for him to get his next championship on a factory team.

Granted, I don't expect Pecco to be a pushover in an Italian team, but Marc has such immense gravity and charisma (like Rossi before him) and success, it's going to be hard to not let that get in Pecco's head.

[Seanspeed]

-Now that the Pramac option is no longer on the table, I think Ducati is thinking really, really, hard about signing Marquez over Martin.

I think you nailed it here.

Marquez played a game of chicken with Ducati and won.

I'm usually a 'team over driver/rider' sort of person, but I've got no great love for Ducati and think Marquez deserves a top spot. Next year is gonna be pretty exciting now, though it's kinda sad Martin left for Aprilia. Was that a bitterness move after being informed of Ducati's decision to promote Marquez?

[Andres125sx]

Martin has nothing to offer to the team! He’s basically a second Bagnaia, maybe a bit worse at times!

Are you seriously saying this about the championship leader??

Then what are offering Bastianini and Morbidelli to Ducati? Morbidelli can´t even beat rookie Acosta on a GasGas, despite riding Ducati GP24!

Hatered detected

[etusch]

I think Ducati made a mistake by letting Martin to go. Off course he lack somethings but keep learning and will be more complete rider soon. I think he is better than bagnaia too. MM is an old one anymore and I would prefer Martin over him.
When it comes to Aprilla. They made a right decision and now they have what they missing most. A good rider. It was same for KTM and now they have Acosta. Look them, they are not as close as they were last year to Ducati. But Acosta make them look like they are still that close. Pull Acosta and look KTM's results.
I think Aprilla will experience same with Martin. But Aprilla bike is also need to make 2 steps more to be there. Their starts are very bad and they lack of some power. Maybe something else but they need a step somewhere to fight with ducatis.

[CHT]

I think Ducati made a mistake by letting Martin to go. Off course he lack somethings but keep learning and will be more complete rider soon. I think he is better than bagnaia too. MM is an old one anymore and I would prefer Martin over him.
When it comes to Aprilla. They made a right decision and now they have what they missing most. A good rider. It was same for KTM and now they have Acosta. Look them, they are not as close as they were last year to Ducati. But Acosta make them look like they are still that close. Pull Acosta and look KTM's results.
I think Aprilla will experience same with Martin. But Aprilla bike is also need to make 2 steps more to be there. Their starts are very bad and they lack of some power. Maybe something else but they need a step somewhere to fight with ducatis.

As long as Ducati can produce a winning bike, they will not run out of options. Marc is only 31 years old, I reckon he still have got a few more years in MotoGp.

[etusch]

They will have options in the condition you mentioned but a second passed never comes back. MM already made a few crashes and if there are more crashes that are affecting WDC for bagnaia then we will see the relation of Bagnaia and MM.

[Cs98]

I think Ducati made a mistake by letting Martin to go. Off course he lack somethings but keep learning and will be more complete rider soon. I think he is better than bagnaia too. MM is an old one anymore and I would prefer Martin over him.
When it comes to Aprilla. They made a right decision and now they have what they missing most. A good rider. It was same for KTM and now they have Acosta. Look them, they are not as close as they were last year to Ducati. But Acosta make them look like they are still that close. Pull Acosta and look KTM's results.
I think Aprilla will experience same with Martin. But Aprilla bike is also need to make 2 steps more to be there. Their starts are very bad and they lack of some power. Maybe something else but they need a step somewhere to fight with ducatis.

Marc's performance is more impressive than Martin's accounting for the bike he is sat one, and there is no doubt who is more commercially valuable for Ducati. I'd be far more worried seeing Marc on a KTM if I were Ducati than seeing Martin on an Aprilia knowing I had Marquez on my bike.