Martin fought Francesco Bagnaia all the way to the final race of the 2023 season on his Pramac Ducati, but ended up 39 points short after a crash in the Valencia Grand Prix handed the title to the ltalian.
Had Martin won the championship, he would have been automatically promoted to the factory team in place of Enea Bastianini, but will remain with the works-backed Pramac squad instead.
Martin said after the Valencia GP that if he hadn’t already proved to Ducati that he deserved to be in its factory team, then he never will after the season he had in 2023.
When asked by Autosport if he agreed with Martin’s assessment, Dall’Igna said: “Absolutely. I agree with him.
“He did a fantastic job this year and he deserves the factory team, for sure. But there are some contracts in place, there are many things that are not possible to change.”
Ducati sporting director Davide Tardozzi concedes that for the Italian marque the strongest line-up it could have is Martin and Bagnaia.
Source: Autosport