After almost four weeks of rest, the ‘Silly Season’ of MotoGP is picking up speed again on the sidelines of the French Grand Prix in Le Mans. While Fabio Quartararo recently committed himself to Yamaha for two more years, this time the focus is on second place in the Ducati factory team alongside Francesco Bagnaia. Three riders are fighting for this: the current owner Enea Bastianini, Pramac rider Jorge Martin and MotoGP superstar Marc Marquez. While the decision of the Ducati bosses seemed quite open so far, a favorite could now emerge.
“This is a really difficult decision,” commented Ducati team boss Gigi Dall’Igna on Thursday in an interview with MotoGP reporter Jack Appleyard and made people sit up and take notice with his subsequent statement: “To be honest, we can’t just look at the races of 2024 “We have to take the entire history of our drivers into account. I personally think that the decision will be difficult because all three drivers are champions, but we’ll see.”
Dall’Igna: Ducati decision will be based on overall history!
Ducati wants to award the second factory place not only based on the riders’ performance in the most recent races, but above all based on past successes. If Pramac driver Martin had clearly been ahead as the World Championship leader in the 2024 season, a look at the overall history of the three contenders naturally paints a completely different picture. There the two one-time motorcycle world champions Martin and Bastianini are fighting against the eight-time champion Marquez, who alone has almost four times as many Grand Prix victories and twice as many podiums and pole positions as the duo.
“Marc has all the history,” MotoGP expert Simon Crafar also interpreted on Thursday and explained: “If you currently look at pure performance – which is exactly what we all did up until Gigi’s statements – all three riders have one Chance. But if you look at it from a historical and marketing perspective, then Marc is the logical choice. He writes all the ‘headlines’.” So should the Gresini driver now be seen as the top favorite to take the place alongside Bagnaia? Ex-Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci says: “I don’t have any inside information, but I suspect that Marquez will go there. As I know him, Gigi Dall’Igna will no longer let a rider like Marquez go.”
Francesco Bagnaia doesn’t want Marc Marquez as a teammate? Bullshit!
But can Ducati really risk internal team peace by giving reigning double world champion Francesco Bagnaia an alpha male like Marquez as a new teammate? Presumably, because the Italian appears unconcerned. “I recently saw a video on Twitter from a Spanish journalist who wanted to hear that I didn’t want Marc in the factory team. That’s bullshit!” he announces and adds: “I don’t care at all, I do I want to beat them all. I will always try to be the best and will continue to do so. I have no preference. I work well with Enea, but if the team wants to change something, I’ll just start over Ambition remains the same, I always want to be better than the other person.”
A clear announcement from Bagnaia, which opens the door for a Marc Marquez transfer to the factory team. The Gresini rider himself held back in the MotoGP press conference on Thursday, but finally made his ambitions for the coming season clear again. The goal for 2025 remains a factory motorcycle: “Compared to Jorge, I’m still new at Ducati and came into a special situation. But step by step I’m feeling better and better and gaining more self-confidence. That was my goal for this year. 2025 and 2026 I will have a different goal, I want to fight for the title. For that I need the latest material to increase my chances. If I’m fast, I have more options for the future and if I get the chance, I’ll take the best .”
The best? Of course, this is and remains a factory Ducati in MotoGP and rival Martin also knows that. The Pramac rider is still fighting in the fight for the second Ducati factory place: “I’m happy where I am right now, but the natural next step would of course be the factory team. I was already close in 2022 and also last season until the last one Race. My goal remains to move there. I hope I can do that, then we’ll see what happens.”
Dall’Igna announces: Ducati decision up to Mugello
The next few weeks and months of the ‘Silly Season’ are likely to be exciting, but at least in the case of Ducati, MotoGP fans probably won’t have to keep guessing for much longer. Team boss Dall’Igna announced a decision by the home race in Mugello (May 31st – June 2nd): “I think that we have to be fair to all riders and give them the opportunity to find a place on the best possible motorcycle, should that be not be the Ducati. So that’s a reasonable period of time.”