After three weeks of supposed championship break, fairly filled with negotiations and announcements that continued to shape the 2025 grid, it was time to get back into the swing of things for the Dutch GP tests. A somewhat curious return for some who, since the previous Grand Prix, have announced their next team change.
This is particularly the case for Jorge Martín, the championship leader and the actor in a sensational transfer in the hours following the Mugello race. Waiting for months, if not longer, for a promotion to the official Ducati team, the Spaniard believed he had finally gained the trust of the Italian manufacturer’s big bosses, but ultimately saw them backtrack under pressure from Marc Márquez ready to leave the group if he did not get this ride.
While Ducati’s choice is certainly well thought out and supported by reasons that belong to the brand, the relational confusion surrounding this decision is enough to leave its mark. Martín hinted at this after the first day of track at Assen, admitting that he had found “odd” to start working again with Gigi Dall’Igna, the engineer at the head of the Ducati program.
“I give it my all, I give 100%”, promised Martin after a mixed day for him on the track. “For sure it’s strange when I talk to Gigi and the Ducati engineers. It’s a bit strange because they ask me a lot about what’s happening on track and it’s hard to be honest. But I guess they want to help me, so I’ll try to be honest with them, explain what’s happening and improve. Hopefully if I give information they’ll give me information too, that’s the key. I’ll try to get their help. But it’s a bit strange when they come into the box and I talk to them.”
Although promised a position as an official Aprilia rider from next season, Martín remains under contract with Ducati for the time being. Within the Pramac team, also itself an actor in its own divorce with the manufacturer, the Spaniard leads the championship and intends to finish the fight for the title during the 13 Grands Prix remaining to be contested this year.
Ducati’s choice to prefer Marc Márquez for its official team marked the end of an interminable wait for the Madrid rider, evaluated for this position for almost two years and already twice on the sidelines against Enea Bastianini. He also admitted that this recovery, although strange, took place in a more serene state of mind for him now that his future is finally clear.
“I’m more relaxed now. I feel much more relaxed in the box. The thing, above all, is that I don’t know if I was obsessed with proving to Ducati that I was the one to choose, but now I feel like I don’t need to prove it anymore. I just race for myself, to try to be a better rider every day. That’s my main goal. I don’t need to race to prove anything to Ducati anymore, just to prove to myself that I can believe in myself and that I can achieve the goals I have in mind.”
I no longer need to race to prove anything to Ducati, just to prove to myself that I can achieve the goals I have in mind.
Throughout the first part of the championship, the Pramac rider has tried to show Ducati that he deserved the place in the factory team. Will he now make it a point of honour to show the manufacturer that it was wrong to choose someone else? “No no not at all”, replied the one who leads the general classification with an 18-point margin. “Even if I had a 100-point lead, I wouldn’t be their choice! [rires] It’s not about proving anything. It’s more about working on myself to be a better rider, in Valencia at the end of the year and next season.”
Towards a “different” situation for Bagnaia
After the departure of Jorge Martín, the announcements continued since Ducati will also lose Enea Bastianini, today driver of the official team, Marco Bezzecchi, another group winner within the VR46 team, and even the Pramac Racing team which ends twenty years of partnership. This last change is possibly the one that will impact the remaining riders the most since Ducati will only have six motorcycles instead of eight and will have to entrust its 2025 machines and its best technical support to a new structure.
Pecco Bagnaia will no longer be able to look at Jorge Martín’s data.
Photo by: Marc Fleury
“It’s something different,” Pecco Bagnaia conceded, opting for a balanced judgment on the situation. “I’m used to having two riders, especially Martín who has always been there in recent years, with whom to share feelings on the new bike and the direction to take. There won’t be that anymore because Pramac is going to switch to another bike. Between Gresini and VR46, I don’t know which will be the second leading team − I hope it will be VR46 − but in any case it will be a little different.”
“And anyway, we will have two fewer bikes, less work for all the Ducati engineers so maybe it will be better,” smiled the double reigning champion, “but it will surely be different.”
“I don’t know who made the decision. There must be a reason for the decisions that were made,” added Pecco Bagnaia, future teammate of Marc Marquez. “It’s clearly a loss because it’s three very strong drivers who are going to other manufacturers. But I don’t know if it’s linked to the fact that there is Marc or not. Maybe [le départ de] Martin is the only one who is related to the fact that Marc [arrive dans l’équipe officielle].”
After this game of musical chairs, Aprilia will be able to count on Jorge Martín and Marco Bezzecchi next year, while KTM will recover Enea Bastianini and Yamaha will start working with Pramac Racing.
