The most controversial transfer question for the 2025 MotoGP season seems to have been answered: Jorge Martin has probably won the battle for the second Ducati factory place against Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini. As the well-connected Ducati ‘Sports Newspaper’ reported that negotiations between Martin and the manufacturer from Borgo Panigale have gained massive momentum in recent days and could be concluded as early as this weekend in Mugello.
However, MotoGP will have to wait a little longer for an official announcement of the deal. Last week in Barcelona, sports director Mauro Grassilli made it clear that there would be no announcement during the Italian Grand Prix. Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali recently confirmed that the final decision would be announced after the race weekend in Mugello and before that in Assen (June 28 to 30).
So everything seems to be clear in the Ducati factory team – Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin will most likely form the driver pairing for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Nevertheless, there are still many open questions to be answered in the Ducati camp. The most important: What will happen to Marc Marquez? The management team around CEO Domenicali, sports director Grassilli and general manager Gigi Dall’Igna would prefer to see him at Pramac Racing.
This would allow Marquez’s recently repeatedly expressed wish for a motorcycle with the latest specifications to be fulfilled. Pramac Racing has been receiving material that is absolutely identical to that of the factory team for many years. At the same time, a transfer of Marc Marquez to Pramac would act as a kind of lure for the Italian racing team. In recent months, team boss Paolo Campinoti is said to have flirted with the idea of his team moving to Yamaha, where they are desperately looking for a customer team. However, the shrewd Campinoti would hardly pass up the unique opportunity of having MotoGP superstar Marc Marquez on one of his motorcycles by staying at Ducati.
Ducati could kill several birds with one stone, but Marc Marquez is now thwarting the red bosses’ plans. “Pramac is a very good team. Martin shows how much potential there is in this racing team. But moving there is not an option for me,” he explained on Thursday afternoon in Mugello. Marquez also explained exactly what the reason for this rejection is: “I will not move from one customer team to the next.”
Marquez wanted to note on Thursday that Ducati had told him that the decision in favour of Martin had not yet been made. Marquez subsequently revealed that there were only two scenarios for him in the Ducati camp: a move to the factory team or staying with Gresini on current material. This could happen if Pramac leaves the Ducati camp for Yamaha, thus freeing up two GP25 machines. A decision on a possible Yamaha customer team is also expected to be made this weekend, as Yamaha motorsport boss Lin Jarvis announced on Thursday.
So there are two options for Marc Marquez at Ducati, but the 31-year-old seems to have other alternatives. “For me there are three scenarios that I feel comfortable with. We are having some interesting discussions,” he said in the Mugello press conference. The third option could be a move to the KTM camp or – less likely – to Aprilia, where they are looking for a replacement for Aleix Espargaro, who is retiring at the end of 2024. In any case, Marc Marquez wants to have his future clarified as quickly as possible in order to overcome any obstacles with personal sponsors in time. He is aiming for a decision before the summer break, which begins on July 8th.