Marc Marquez admitted that he is addicted to defending Gresini Racing, the family-like squad that helped him rise from his slump in MotoGP. Although he wants to stay, he must move to the Ducati Lenovo Team next season in order to realize his desire to ride the latest factory-spec Desmosedici.

Marquez had four bad seasons with Repsol Honda and chose to terminate his contract at the end of 2023 to defend Ducati through Gresini, which is only a satellite team. Marquez even moved to the squad without a salary, and had to be willing to ride the Desmosedici GP23, aka the old bike.

Unexpectedly, Marquez felt comfortable defending Gresini. In addition to the good results he got again, Gresini also had a more relaxed working atmosphere. For this reason, Marquez had insisted on staying at Gresini and asked Ducati Corse to provide the Desmosedici GP25 aka a new motorbike for him in 2025.

Don’t Want 2024 Season to End

However, Marquez’s request was rejected by Ducati Corse, because they would only supply new bikes to the Pertamina Enduro VR46 squad. Ducati Corse instead offered Marquez the chance to defend the Ducati Lenovo Team which has factory team status, an offer that certainly cannot be refused by any racer.

In the ‘El Larguero’ program on Cadena SER radio, Marquez did not deny the desire to have a factory bike, but also felt it was very difficult to leave Gresini even though they had only worked together for nine months. “I really want to ride a factory Ducati bike, but I don’t want this year to end, because I’m having fun,” he said.

“I would like to try a factory bike, but in the end it’s still a bike and it will be an evolution of what I have now. But I don’t want this year to end because I’m in a team where I’m having fun, and in a factory team everything will be much more serious,” he continued as quoted by Motorbike Magazine

Seriously Backing Pecco Bagnaia to Win MotoGP 2024

In the same interview, Marquez also explained why he favors Pecco Bagnaia, his potential partner next season, to become world champion over Jorge Martin. He said this in a press conference at the 2024 Austrian MotoGP, and many people doubted his statement. However, he admitted that he was not playing around.

“I mean it. Since signing with Ducati, I feel like a Ducati rider. This year, I’m racing with Gresini, but I’ll be a Ducati rider. If their team wins another title, even better. Also, if the reigning champion is in my garage, even better, because it means they’re doing a good job,” he concluded.

Currently, Martin is at the top of the standings with 312 points, 7 points ahead of Bagnaia in second place. Marquez is also in third place with 259 points. They will meet again in the Emilia Romagna MotoGP at the Misano Circuit on September 20-22, 2024.

Summer: The Cadena SER Stringer, Motorbike Magazine