MotoGP Silly Season

And so, on to the big race between Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin for the most coveted seat in MotoGP. It was a tough choice for Ducati. Marquez is an eight-time world champion and having him aboard brings a wealth of experience, a huge fan base and, of course, a talented rider.

Marquez made the shock move from his long-time home at Honda to the Gresini satellite Ducati team this year and is yet to win a race, although he has seen a host of podium finishes made even more impressive by him being the top-finishing Ducati GP23 (the 2023 model Ducati race bike that the smaller teams ride while the Factory Team and Pramac use shiny new GP24 bikes) by miles. Imagine what he could do with the latest equipment, Ducati no doubt thought.

However, Marquez is now firmly in his thirties and was famously the victim of a host of injuries that nearly saw his career come to a premature end. How long does he have left, especially as another big highside could bring his riding career to a dramatic end?

Step forward, Jorge Martin. He is 26 years of age, old enough to have some wisdom in that noggin of his while his bones are still sufficiently made of rubber to avoid crumbling to dust in the next big tumble. Despite not being in the Factory Team, Martin is currently leading the championship and is still very much in contention to take the honours in November.

Would Ducati take the old master or the new blood? Most of the big bets were on the latter – Martin has become a Ducati stalwart and warned that should the Bologna factory not give him a Factory seat, he would offer his services elsewhere. Marquez, on the other hand, seemed happy to receive only the latest bike even if not in the Factory Team. Surely, prevalent logic dictated, Martin would get the seat next to Bagnaia and Marquez would get the latest bike in another team? Ducati would get the best of both worlds. Or so we thought…