After several months and numerous twists and turns, the Ducati saga for the second factory place alongside Francesco Bagnaia has come to an end in the past few days. MotoGP superstar Marc Marquez won the race and will be driving in Ducati red in 2025 and 2026. Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini, on the other hand, lost the three-way battle and have drawn their conclusions. They are leaving the manufacturer from Borgo Panigale at the end of the season and moving on to the competition. Compared to the current line-up, this means that two places will be free in Ducati customer teams in 2025. The big question now is: who will fill them?
One thing in advance: The ‘Silly Season’ of MotoGP in 2024 is far from over with the awarding of the second Ducati factory place. On the contrary: With the decision in favor of Marquez and against Martin or Bastianini, the first dominoes have probably fallen on the MotoGP driver market. After all, only nine riders have a contract for the coming season in their pockets, and 13 places are still officially available – including one factory place each at Honda, Yamaha and Aprilia, which now need to be filled.
Question mark Yamaha: Will Pramac and VR46 stay at Ducati in 2025?
In the case of Ducati in particular, there is a second, important point that complicates the situation considerably. Yamaha is desperately looking for a customer team and would like to snatch one of the Italians’ three. Gresini Racing is out of the question, as it still has a valid contract with Ducati until 2025. However, Pramac and VR46 are still available on paper. However, Pramac team manager Gino Borsoi recently announced in Mugello that his team will again have two factory Ducatis in 2025 and 2026, which means a switch to Yamaha is off the table. VR46 has also committed to Ducati in recent months, but a new contract has still not been officially signed.
It is therefore entirely possible that VR46 will switch to Yamaha after all, completely turning the driver market upside down. However, if MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi’s team stays with Ducati, there will probably be few changes there. Speaking to ‘ServusTV’ shortly before the start of the Mugello sprint, the nine-time motorcycle world champion explained: “The market is very complicated this year. But I personally hope to keep Bezz and Diggia.” So there is a good chance for Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio to stay with VR46 Racing in 2025, unless they switch to another manufacturer out of their own interest.
Pramac Ducati: Fermin Aldeguer likely to replace Jorge Martin
At Pramac, however, it is important to find a successor for world championship leader Martin – or rather: Ducati must find a successor. The drivers of the Italian private team have been under contract directly with the manufacturer from Borgo Panigale for years and are essentially loaned out. This is how it worked recently with Jack Miller, Johann Zarco, Bagnaia and Martin, and in the future probably also with Fermin Aldeguer. The Moto2 shooting star of the SpeedUp team signed with Ducati in mid-March, after which his promotion to MotoGP for the coming season was announced. Where Ducati wants to place the 19-year-old Spaniard is still unclear. With Martin’s departure and Pramac’s (probable) stay at Ducati, however, Paolo Campinoti’s team seems the most realistic option.
Joan Mir and Gresini: Will the MotoGP deal work on the second attempt?
The situation at Gresini Racing, on the other hand, is much more unclear. Until recently, they were hoping that MotoGP superstar Marquez would stay, which is why hardly any talks with potential successors have been held so far. However, one such person could be Joan Mir: The 2020 world champion has recently repeatedly let it be known that he is not particularly keen on staying at Repsol Honda. There were also rumors last year that Mir would switch to Gresini, before Marquez was awarded the contract. It is possible that the collaboration will now come about at the second attempt.
Other candidates could be Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez, whose stay at Trackhouse Racing is anything but certain. Apart from that, Gresini would probably have to look outside of MotoGP, because Alex Rins, Jack Miller, Augusto Fernandez and Takaaki Nakagami do not really seem like realistic options. However, there is no shortage of exciting talent in Moto2: Joe Roberts, Alonso Lopez, Manuel Gonzalez and above all world championship leader Sergio Garcia have had a strong season there so far. Perhaps one of them will make the leap to the premier class with Gresini Racing.
By the way, the stay of Alex Marquez (Gresini) and Franco Morbidelli (Pramac) is not guaranteed, as their contracts are also expiring. Potentially, there could even be two more places to be filled in the Ducati camp.
How would you fill the vacant Ducati spots? Tell us in the comments!