Let no one be fooled: as much as the Italian brand wants to publicly disassociate itself from the agreement that will link Marc Marquez to Gresini, it would be naive to think that the Spaniard will be riding a Desmosedici next season without approval from Ducati or, at least, of its most influential faction.
For some years now, most of the paddock has known that alongside Claudio Domenicali - the Bolognese company's CEO - there is no one with more decision-making power than Gigi Dall'Igna. It was he who, on the Sunday after the Japanese Grand Prix, made it clear that Marquez had decided to leave Honda to ride a satellite Ducati.
Three days later, Marquez announced that he had parted company with HRC "by mutual agreement", the contract that on paper linked them until the end of 2024. In the next few days, his signature with Gresini should be made official. There, he will once again share a garage with his brother Alex, a key player in Marc's decision to leave Honda.
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The six-time champion will land there alone, without the human group that had surrounded him since his time in Moto2. This is basically due to the fact that the Catalan rider rejected the offer to accept the two-year contract he had on the table. Ducati's fear, understandably, is that the engineers and technicians led by Santi Hernandez could leave with Marquez to go somewhere else after just one year having been able to study all the 'secrets' of the best weapon on the grid.
However, that may end up being the least of the problems for the manufacturer that currently dominates the world championship, with three of its bikes in the top three positions in the overall points table. Not least because Dall'Igna's desire to discover what Marc Marquez is capable of doing with one of his Desmosedici will likely make it difficult to continue managing the riders in such a controlled manner.
It's understandable that many people find it strange that a star of Marquez's pedigree and stature will be competing in 2024 on an 'old' bike, while fellow Ducati newcomer Franco Morbidelli, for example, will be racing on the latest version. Contrary to what logic might dictate, this distribution of equipment plays in favour of the moment that Marquez is going through.
The Spaniard has tired of being a test and development rider, and only wants to worry about going fast on a bike that works. And that is, most probably, what Alex has transmitted to him.
Source: Autosport