The first press conference as a prelude to the Portuguese Grand Prix motorcycle, at the Algarve International Autodrome in Portimão, brought together Francis Bagnaia, Brad Binder et George Martin, the current top three at the 2024 world championship, to answer various questions from journalists.
Among these, their future was mentioned, already frozen for Francis Bagnaia et Brad Binder who have already renewed their current contract in their respective team for 2025 and 2026, still open for Jorge Martin who is aiming for second place in the official Ducati team, currently occupied by Enea Bastianini, but does not refrain from looking elsewhere in case Borgo Panigale does not recognize his talent to its full extent...
But whatever the situation of each person, the more we talk about this subject, the better, as the three interested parties explain, starting with George Martin who intends to take his time to demonstrate his capabilities once again, even if 50% of the Ducati 2025s are already taken...
“I think now is not the time to talk about my future. I'm going to demonstrate that I still have plenty of time to do this, so I assume my manager is working on it. »
Francis Bagnaia, with two titles in his pocket and already leading the 2024 championship, had no reason to want to change his position. He only sees the announcement of his extension for two years as one more element to perform: we no longer talk about it and we can concentrate on work…
“From my point of view, it’s something that Ducati and I both wanted. It's true that the pressure is the same, you want to be first, but you don't need to start talking about your future. It's something less to do and you can just concentrate on riding and doing your best. For me, it's better. »
An approach shared by Brad Binder, who does not intend to be seduced by other sirens, at a time when the KTM RC16 is showing itself to be more and more efficient...
“For me, it’s pretty much the same thing. You know, for me it was clear from my side and from KTM's side that you wanted to stay together. We are happy with the direction we are both taking. So yes, when we talked about extending, it was definitely something that we were very happy to do on both sides. I have been with KTM for almost 10 years and I am very happy where I am. We have the same goal in mind and we want to achieve the same goals together. »
Finally, during the second conference, Marc Marquez shared his opinion on the subject. For him, nothing is certain and everything will depend on his performance in 2024, but the eight-time Spanish champion is careful not to specify his main objective for the moment, even if everyone suspects it...
“My situation is completely different from the past. Last December I already signed the contract for the following year and, for the moment, I am in no hurry. I mean, I just want to focus on myself. I try to do my best. I know that if I am happy, I will be faster, I will have more opportunities to choose a saddle, but so far I do not want to talk about it. I want to focus on myself: what I did in Qatar, what I will do here, some places will be better, some races will be worse, but I will try to give 100% because I know that in the sport, it's the present that counts, not the past. So the present is like this, and I have to work because 2, 3 or 4 drivers are faster than me. »
