Next year, Marc Marquez will still be in red, but in MotoGP, everything is difficult: signing one of the best riders of all time was no easy feat, even for Ducati. After relaunching his career in 2024 with Gresini, Marquez was promoted to the factory team in 2025. While he was in contention with Jorge Martin, choosing Marquez proved to be the winning move. He dominated the 2025 season and decided to extend his stay with Borgo Panigale in 2027 and 2028. But not without difficulty.
Ducati Corse team sporting director Mauro Grassilli elaborated on this decision. From what we understand, there was no safety net. « The situation last winter was anything but simpleFrankly, we had absolutely no plan B. Regarding Marc, we did everything we could to keep him working with us, and throughout that time – we're talking several months – Ducati maintained its position. At that point, we had no alternative; everything revolved around Marc. Honestly, we went through some very difficult months. It was much simpler for us to sign the first contract with Marc. When he moved from Gresini to Ducati Lenovo at the end of 2024, everything went smoothly. » he declared for speedweek.
Priority was given to him after he won the world championship title, which had already been done for Bagnaia in 2023. « Ducati has been pursuing a clear strategy for some time now.Our goal is always to secure the world champion's services for the next contract period as quickly as possible.That's what we did recently with Pecco. Immediately after winning the title in 2023, we worked to guarantee his presence with us in 2025 and 2026. » he added.
However, for Marquez, the matter dragged on for a long, long time, enough to fuel some rumors of an early retirement in the paddock. But a few weeks ago, the signing was made official. Marquez will be joined by Pedro Acosta in the Ducati factory team in 2027 as in 2028 for the new era of MotoGP.
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Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport