Martìn will probably have to make do with the current bikes as Ducati is unlikely to give him updates. Remember the #1 plate follows the rider not the bike, so does Ducati really want Martìn to win and take the #1 with him?

quote:

Originally posted by cfiore:

Agreed on all. It was like watching the Monaco GP except for Enea's pass at the end. BUT how about today's excitement!!!?? Martin to Aprilia! That announcement came really fast. I feel like maybe the Ducati had decided before Mugello was an incorrect rumor. Supposedly final details being workedout for MM to factory red. WOW, don't see that going well for Ducati. I don't think MM & Pecco get along very well at all and that could create a fairly volatile garage. I can't believe Ducati folded to MM threat of Pramac is not on option. I really am unsure how I feel about this. Just like Hamilton to Ferrari, I am not a Hamilton fan at all, but I am a huge Ferrari fan. Same with Ducati and MM, not a MM fan, never have been but I am a huge Ducati fan. 2025 should be quite exciting. The rest of this season should be very interesting, Martin now has nothing to lose with Ducati, so he will probably, over ride the bike to win the Championship for a manufacturer he is leaving. lol And MM, how will he respond, will he help Pecco if he has the chance to? I think not.
Todays news was more exciting than the race. lol

I had thought about it before. Martin is like a brother to Aleix Espargaro. Martin had Aleix’s son on his lap, holding him, during Aleix’s retirement press conference. Aleix has been coaching him off the track for many years now. So it makes sense. But even with Jorge grumbling here and there, I didn’t think he would split. I thought he’d get the factory Ducati, and after Thursday’s press conference, I thought Marc would be headed to factory KTM since he’s been sponsored by Red Bull his entire tenure.

What doesn’t make sense is Ducati folding to Marc’s demands on Thursday of “I will not ride for Pramac”. Why not? You haven’t won a got damn thing on the Ducati yet. You are getting podiums, great. But don’t act like people haven’t won on a year old Ducati before. Digi won races last year, with a year old Ducati. Bez did as well. Bez was ripping on that thing last year. So you have multiple riders, on year old Ducatis, winning races. And Marc hasn’t even done that yet. As a Valentino Rossi fan since 1998, seeing every race back to that season, can’t stand Marc. He’s a shit sport. This sport has always had riders trading paint in the last corner of the last lap for the W. But not in practice. Marc’s a a bitch, a poor sport, and isn’t well liked in the paddock. And more than that, he’s a dirty rider. Dirtiest I’ve ever seen honestly.

Ducati punking Martin, well the story I’m getting is this, from a couple journalists:
Ducati offered Martin the factory seat at Ducati, full contract. But it had a caveat clause that if somehow Marc won the championship this year on the Gresini, the factory seat would go to Marc and Martin would stay with Pramac for 2024. Jorge didn’t like that, probably called Massimo and Aleix, and bam, done deal. Factory seat with no clauses or caveats. Stupid move Ducati. I’m no Jorge fan at all. The only two Spanish riders I have ever liked, ever, was Aleix and Maverick. But he earned that seat last year and this year. He’s leading the championship for goodness sakes. Marc just joined. Ducati should have paid the results back, but I guess they haven’t liked when Martin says he’s getting a factory seat one way or the other, one mfr. or the other over the last 9 months. But isn’t that what Marc just did? So for Marc to say/do it, it’s ok? But Martin, no? That’s bullshit. At this point I hope Ducati treats Marc the same, with the demands, and gives the factory seat to Enea or Bez. None of the VR|46 riders like Marc, at all, and you want a harmonious garage. Marc is no good for the Ducati factory garage.

It comes off as a VERY stupid move by Ducati to me. Here’s to hoping the Aprilia can be competitive in 2025 so Ducati can come to regret what they have done.

Marc is doing good but realistically he is only one or two hard crashes away from retirement. I don’t understand Ducati’s decision especially considering the performance of Jorge.

The Beast’s season last year was RUINED out of the gate by a hit from #93. Do they really think such a thing can’t ever happen to Pecco? I wouldn’t sign #93 over a VERY promising younger rider.

Ducati may only have been part of the group that decided on Marc. Volkswagen Auto Group (parent co) is all about dollars and probably figured Marc could bring more than Jorge.

Add publicity to that money. I'll even bet that they took into account their social media following. Martin has 910K followers on Instagram vs Marquez 7.2M. Selling bikes is still the name of the game and with a bigger pool to pull from, the bean counters probably creamed their undies at the thought of signing Marc.

Lastly; DATA. It's not fair to compare '24 bike to a '23 bike, so to be equitable, GiGi is probably looking at everyone's data for the '23 bike and seeing something that makes him believe that Marc will ride his next iteration like an 8 times world champion.

It’s just money. Read the link.

https://www.crash.net/motogp/n...new-sponsorship-deal

I ain't happy.
I hope Pecco takes it all.
If it means turning GP into NASCAR, so be it.

It’s official as of today, Marc Marquez will be a factory Ducati rider next year.

Never seen a silly season like this, with this kind of shuffling.

Wow, Marquez getting the factory seat is having repercussions. Martin getting screwed after what he did last year and leading the championship this year, fuck you Ducati, Factory Aprilia.

Enea Bastianini pissed, and going to KTM Tech 3. So Ducati loses 2 of their best riders.

Next, Pramac is pissed, and the rumors are after this fiasco, they might defect to Yamaha being their satellite team. So Marquez to Factory Ducati = Ducati losing 2 of their young and best riders, and maybe their Satellite Factory squad.

The other Aprilia rider, Bez, Digi, or resign Maverick? You would think Aprilia would want some continuity in the garage but they do want an Italian rider on the factory team.

This is going to be interesting how all this shakes out.

Mav to Tech 3 KTM. All signs point to Pramac going to Yamaha’s for ‘25

Enea, I understood but losing Mav as well providing no continuity for factory Aprilia is crazy. I translate that as Aprilia is limited on money compared to HRC, Ducati, Yamaha and KTM. HRC is HRC, deeper pockets than anyone. Ducati has deep pockets via Audi/VAG, Yamaha, less so but still pretty up there and KTM is backed by infinite $ via RedBull which is just a cash cow. Energy drink mfr who stole the recipe and it costs pennies to produce with massive profit margins. So Aprilia is the least funded in the paddock and I’m quite sure they had to give Martin a competitive salary. So that left them offering a chintzy salary to Maverick due to the Martin signing and I’m sure that pissed Maverick off. He is the #1 rider in Aprilia and showing his talent this year with poles, Sprint win, and Race win, and podiums, going full dominant when they can set the bike up correctly. I’m astounded that Aprilia would let him go but I guarantee Tech 3 salary is greater than factory Aprilia money for the next 2 years because RedBull is again, a cash cow. Or maybe, like Martin getting pissed at Ducati for fucking him over, Maverick felt he was getting fucked over by Aprilia and signed with KTM out of spite. It does look that way. The Spanish guys have always been heated, over the top with the emotional bullshit.

I thought Enea might have gone to Aprilia but Massimo and Bez are tight so the next signing, I wouldn’t be surprised if Aprilia gets Bez but at the same time who the fuck knows? In 25 years I’ve never seen such surprises with rider changes. It’s crazy. When Marc pulled his shit and said no way he’d go to Pramac on a factory Ducati, which Pramac bikes are, well he’s always been a RedBull rider and KTM is RedBull. I would have bet money Marc would be the Rat’s teammate and I was dead wrong. Ducati are so foolish letting Martin go but they have another young rider waiting in the wings so they may bump him up next year into the premier class.

So who knows what is next, nothing would surprise me now. Is Binder going to get the other factory slot with KTM because now they cannot move him to Tech 3 or will this be another left field deal and he signs with factory Aprilia? That will probably be the next announcement, that Binder resigns with KTM and keeps his factory seat but fuck all if I know at this point. Everyone is hopping around. Binder is next, Bez, Morbidelli, these guys have won races in GP and should be the priority. The press conferences in Assen will be the most explosive, and long, with journalists asking many questions, that I have ever seen.

I still think Marc could be one crash away from retirement. I don’t like him but I don’t doubt him either. He could win another title(s) or crash spectacularly and make Gigi and Ducati look idiots for letting a young, and leading the championship rider leave the brand. Martin is going to be more motivated than ever to take a big shit on them and beat Pecco to the title. I’m not a fan, and support VR|46 all day so I want Pecco to win but I’d enjoy laughing at Ducati for fucking all this up. Not since Valentino won on the RC211V in 2003, has a championship winning rider, left the brand immediately after winning the whole thing. Aprilia 50/50 for letting Mav go. The Italians are doing dirty IMO and KTM has been the most upfront and loyal. Bagging Mav and Enea is a coo for them. Their 2nd team has two, multi-race riders slotting in. And Marc? Meh, he’ll never be Valentino Rossi with our without more titles. Valentino left HRC, clearly the best bike in the class, and the best racing motorcycle I’ve seen to this day as it relates to competition, for a step down, tier 2 motorcycle in Yamaha in 2004. Marc jumped from best bike, deepest pockets, for the best bike in class, not tier 2. Even his Gresini, one year old Ducati, is still a better bike than all the other factory bikes from Aprilia, KTM, etc. Valentino did it with a lesser bike and Marc has never and will never do that. Reminds me of Lebron switching teams to a super team just to get another ring instead of sticking it out and making everyone around him better.

Pramac to Yamaha.

Bez to Aprilia.

and the Dutch GP was boring as fuck. The track is too dangerous for the speeds they're running. It ended up hurting a few folks this weekend

It’s the Cathedral. When they changed the last sector of the track to accommodate for the new hotel, they ruined the track. That chintzy chicane at the end of the lap was not there prior to making room for the hotel. It’s the oldest track on the calendar, started racing there in 1949 so it’s not going anywhere. That’s why they are reducing capacity for the new regs and bikes.

Marquez moving to factory Ducati caused the following:

Jorge Martin, the current championship leader and runner up in 2023, moves to Factory Aprilia.

Marco Bezecchi, 3X GP winner last year, and 3rd in the championship in 2023, moves to Factory Aprilia.

Enea Bastianini, GP race winner in 2023 and has won many races for Ducati, to KTM Tech 3.

Pramac Ducati, moves to Pramac Yamaha, for 2025. The best satellite squad in the paddock.
They were so pissed off they weren’t getting a Marquez, or Martin, a top rider for 2025, they said fuck you to Ducati too.

So Marquez coming into Factory Ducati causes 3 of Ducati’s best current and future riders to leave as well as their main satellite Ducati squad who fields factory spec bikes. Then with Martin coming into Aprilia, they won’t publicly admit it, but Rivola wanted to re-sign Vinales but they tried to make him take a huge pay cut so like Martin upset with Ducati, and saying fuck you, Maverick does the exact same thing to Aprilia. Another byproduct of the Marquez fiasco. Then Matt Birt, is making excuses for Marquez during the race today. “Marc doesn’t have the same equipment as Pecco/Jorge.” Um, Digi, and Bez, were both winning races last year on year old machinery so what is Marc Marquez’s excuse again? I’m tired of everyone acting like Marquez owns this sport. All his championships came when he was on the best bike in the paddock. Rossi’s first 3 it was the same thing so he left and got on a lesser bike to prove himself to everyone. Marc is incapable of this and has to have the best bike and will do any dirty move he can to get it. So be it, but we don’t have to respect it.

Ducati lost all my respect with this. Martin earned that seat. And they fucked him. And look at the collateral damage. I hope it was worth it. Marc is one wreck away from ending his career IMO. You just traded your future for now and it’s just stupid. This is more for marketing reasons than anything else. Congrats to Pecco though, he was in domination mode all weekend. He got pole, won the sprint and race, and led every session all weekend sans the warmup this morning. He was untouchable all weekend. Oh and lastly, Pecco is VR|46 all damn day and the Ducati garage next year will not be harmonious as Pecco does not like Marquez, at all, and neither do any of the VR|46 academy riders. Corse had a gold mine of current and future riders for their brand, as well as the best satellite squad and traded it all away for some magic beans. I hope this all comes to bite them in the ass.

^^^^ very well said. I am NOT happy about Ducati’s decision either. They fucked Jorge 100%. Here’s to hoping it comes back to bite them in the ass HARD.

We're back with a coupla oopsies today. Championship got a little tighter for sure. It's clearly a 2 way race but I'd like to see it come down to the wire with the top 4.

Always enjoy seeing Marc go down. Twice this weekend so far. I don’t know if anyone saw or read about Ducati week, but lookie lookie what Marc did during the race on street bikes (V4 Panigales). Once an ass hole, always an ass hole.

https://youtu.be/ROBMjlMT3Zw?si=ilLLEtsPWXQ1AquQ

And congrats to Enea. The BEAST is back! He put moves on Jorge, finally got past him, and walked him.

The Beast does the double! Congratulations Ducati, 2/3 riders on the podium will be gone next season. Aces!

8 of the top 10 were on Ducatis. Damn these other mfr’s need to get their shit together, bad.

Sad to say this year and next 2 will be the Ducati Cup. I don't see anything changing until the '27 rules roll out. KTM and Aprilia were showing some promise but that seems to have stalled. The Japanese remain Japanese

The 2 factory Ducati's looked noticeably faster down the straights to me. You could see it clear as day when Marc was trying to follow Pecco during Q2 and again when Bastianini got past Martin. They've got some juice for sure!

Well then..Suzuki just sold all their MotoGP data to BMW for 18 million Euro. That’s the nail in the coffin for Hamamatsu. They will not be back any time soon. BMW bought the data to mull over the thought of going into GP. I give it a 50/50 chance for them to enter.

Thinking in F1 terms, 18mil seems pretty 'cheap' to buy out an existing [and recent champion] team.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Well then..Suzuki just sold all their MotoGP data to BMW for 18 million Euro. That’s the nail in the coffin for Hamamatsu. They will not be back any time soon. BMW bought the data to mull over the thought of going into GP. I give it a 50/50 chance for them to enter.

That's a shame. I have nothing against Ducati. I just hate to see the Japanese bikes fade away from MotoGP. I keep hoping something will wake up the HRC sleeping giant.