Probably no 2025 Ducati at Gresini, switch to MotoGP competition?

Next twist in MotoGP transfer thriller surrounding Marc Marquez. He was considered a hot contender for a place in the Ducati factory team for 2025. According to a report by the traditionally very well-informed Sports Newspaper but Jorge Martin received it. According to reports, the Ducati bosses’ plan was to put Marquez on a current machine in the Pramac team. He had always mentioned a 2025 motorcycle as a major goal for the coming season.

Marc Marquez: Pramac not an option

However, Marquez clearly rejected the option of transferring to Pramac on Thursday in Mugello. “Pramac is a very good team with great potential, but it’s not an option for me,” said the MotoGP superstar, who also gave his reasons for the rejection. “I will not switch from one customer team to the next.”

However, there would still have been an opportunity for Ducati to fulfill Marquez’s wish for a current motorcycle and at the same time bring Jorge Martin into the factory team. That would have been if one or both of the machines from the latest Pramac Racing upgrades had been transferred to Gresini. But that will probably not happen either. “We will also have the current Ducatis in our team in 2025,” Pramac team manager Gino Borsoi revealed to ‘DAZN’ on Friday morning.

All Ducati doors closed for Marc Marquez?

This means that in all probability, the Ducatis from the last model year that Marc Marquez has longed for will only be available in the factory team and at Pramac Racing in 2025. This is because the Ducati management around Gigi Dall’Igna has always rejected an increase to five or more current bikes. This experiment was attempted in 2022 – Luca Marini also received a current motorcycle from VR46 at the time – but was seen as a certain over-exertion of the project.

So has the last door in Borgo Panigale closed for Marc Marquez? That is not certain yet, but it seems so at the moment. In order to keep Marquez, the reports about Jorge Martin being promoted to the factory team would have to turn out to be false. Or Ducati would have to deviate from its tried and tested strategy and build another 2025 motorcycle for Marquez at Gresini.

KTM? Aprilia? These are Marc Marquez’ alternatives

If neither of these two scenarios comes to pass, Marquez will probably leave Ducati after just one year. The KTM camp says that signing the eight-time world champion is not realistic, but there are reports in the paddock that there are indeed talks between Marquez’s management and the Austrian manufacturer. Aprilia, which is looking for a replacement for 2025 after Aleix Espargaro announced his retirement, could also be an option.