Marc Marquez could end relations with Honda if he does not return to fight for victory by 2024. And what will Ducati do?
Marc Marquez stopped at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center, in Austria, for some physical tests in view of the next MotoGP appointment. After three years punctuated by injuries and four operations on his right arm, the Repsol Honda rider wants to put everything behind him and return to being that premier class “matador” we knew until the time of the accident in Jerez in July 2020.
His results will depend a lot on the technical package that the Japanese builder of the Golden Wing will be able to put at his disposal. In 2022 he immediately understood that with that bike he couldn’t have done much to aim for the world title, hence the decision to bring forward the timing of the last surgery, carried out on 2 June in the States. Upon returning to the track, he certainly expected something more from a technical point of view Honda RC213Vbut his expectations were disappointed, including in the last Valencia test.
Ducati rules out the Marc Marquez hypothesis
His brother’s passage Alex Marquez in Gresini is seen by many as an approach of the Cervera brothers to the Ducati brand. The Borgo Panigale manufacturer tried to court the multiple champion a few years ago, before he renewed for four years with HRC, but without success. Marc Marquez he would never have given up on the manufacturer who was offering him complete confidence, carte blanche, world championship titles. However, the injury before and the lack of reactivity on the part of the Japanese engineers in making timely changes to the bike led to the first tears.
There Ducati Desmosedici GP it has become the fastest bike on the grid, the easiest to ride, the most coveted by all the riders. If Marc Marquez were to give us a little thought for 2025… would the Italian brand be willing to welcome the Catalan champion? To hear the words of the ds Paul Ciabatti it seems not. Nobody doubts the qualities of the almost 30-year-old champion, but the Emilia-based company has decided to change its philosophy and strategy, focusing on young drivers “cultivated” in its customer teams. A bit like what happened for Pecco Bagnaia and, now, Enea Bastianini.
In an Instagram interview with Tony Vaccarella, Paolo Ciabatti ruled out a possible future engagement of the eldest of the Marquez brothers. “Marc is a fantastic rider, but he’s 5 or 6 years older than our riders. So we prefer to focus on the riders who are growing with Ducati. Marc and Alex live together and share many things, surely Marc will ask Alex for information… but our plans are different“.
