I have this impression also. Seems Marc is gonna leave in 2025, maybe back to Honda? Who knows...
Would be nice if he end up buying Gresini lol....
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Would be nice if he end up buying Gresini lol....
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A happy passenger for sure, it's a win win for Ducati. If Marc is competitive, he will be so on a Ducati.
Agreed. Unless something drastically changes at Gresini, the fact Marc insisted on a 1 yr deal means he is looking for a new factory ride for 2025 when the market opens up. Maybe then, his crew will join him.
I seem to recall that was one of the sticking points with Rossi to Petronas Yamaha in 2021, that a small team has a hard time dropping loyal employees for a new riders entourage, especially if they are only staying short term.
I'm sceptical about Marc buying Gresini, but who knows. I may be surprised. He will have competition from KTM if so.
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Believe it or not, Dixon is only a year younger than Viñales.
My theory: Gresini will become KTM's 3rd team in 2025. Right now they have a depressing lack of sponsors. Marc can partner with RB and reach a deal with Gresini to move to KTM, receive full factory support and keep everyone happy (except Ducati). KTM get their wish of having 3 teams without having to sacrifice more riders than they already have.
As for Marc returning to Honda, I don't think it will happen before 2027.
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WAY early I know but along those lines I see 2025 Going something like this:
Factory KTM:
Binder
Marquez (Yes yes Acosta, but Red Bull bankroll that team and will have the final say)
GasGas
Miller or Pol Espargaro
Raul Fernandez
Husqvarna (formerly Gresini)
Acosta
Alex Marquez
Factory KTM:
Binder
Marquez (Yes yes Acosta, but Red Bull bankroll that team and will have the final say)
GasGas
Miller or Pol Espargaro
Raul Fernandez
Husqvarna (formerly Gresini)
Acosta
Alex Marquez
Fascinating development. I didn’t think it was going to happen. It will be interesting to see how he does. Not looking forward to another Marquez win almost every race year but it could happen based on past performance. (On an entirely different motorcycle and different set of rules, as we know.)
Somehow, I think things have changed enough for that not to happen.
Somehow, I think things have changed enough for that not to happen.
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Perhaps because I'm a huge fan of him, but I'm cautious with the move. While I don't think he'll do worse than in Honda, and if Alex can be competitive on the Duc, Marc will too; but we already know that this sport is unpredictable at times and sometimes an injury can derail things. This season alone we have had three Duc riders out of action for extended periods. With 44 races, it's gonna be a long season and anything can happen. Current MotoGP is starting to resemble the old era of grand prix racing (both 2 and 4 wheels) in which the one who could finish more races was the favorite to win. Marc needs to take things calmly. Even another injury this season on the Honda could prove fatal for his chances next year, I know he'll want to get one last victory for Honda, with Philip Island being the most likely chance to do so.
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That is the sad reality of the sport these days, you're right. We could have seen Bagnaia's season (and career) ended in Barcelona. I'm hoping if Marc gels with the GP23 at the post season test, he will be relaxed going into 2024.
I still think that he has a maturity and consistency that most of the other frontrunners do not. A championship challenge may be hindered by being on a customer bike though.
That said, I was hugely excited for Lorenzo to join Honda in 2019 and I was left crushed by what might have been. In fact Lizzy was never seen again on here after his retirement. I still watch the first 1.5 laps of Barcelona 2019 imagining what could have been...
I still think that he has a maturity and consistency that most of the other frontrunners do not. A championship challenge may be hindered by being on a customer bike though.
That said, I was hugely excited for Lorenzo to join Honda in 2019 and I was left crushed by what might have been. In fact Lizzy was never seen again on here after his retirement. I still watch the first 1.5 laps of Barcelona 2019 imagining what could have been...
Reasonable theory since KTM are obviously eying expansion. There was a rumor that if Marc left, he was taking Repsol with him. Unclear what sort of deal Honda and Repsol actually have, but if they jump ship to go with the Marquez' to Gresini, that would be interesting. That would also be more than enough sponsor money to run a team, but would Repsol really leave for a satellite team? I'm skeptical that would happen, unless they are exploring a new sponsorship strategy, rather than dumping a huge amount of money into a pair of factory bikes.
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The customer bike thing is the issue. If the parity between the customer bike and the factory bikes is similar to this year he can win the title. Pretty much everyone including me has been surprised by the level of the Ducati customer bikes in recent years though, and it is certainly possible the Gresini bike won’t be as comparable next year and I suspect Ducati will have some control over that. If he rides as he did the year he won the title with the bad shoulder I guess he could still win by not crashing which I suspect Bagnaia for one will continue to do and at least he will be on a bike which is not actively trying to kill him.
I agree with Lex that this is a reflection of Honda not having the resources or not wishing to expend the resources to have a competitive bike next year in the dying days of this formula, which would likely imo require a new engine and aero etc stuff in which they have no interest.
Also Raul or Augusto ?.
Absolutely. The whole humeral fracture saga started when he crashed trying to prove a point to FQ when he had no real chance of improving his position.
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I liked that.
Braver than me though. I have low bone density from years of cycling. I'd shatter into a thousand pieces after I managed to get it going after stalling it multiple times and flip the ........
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I'm hoping he has matured since then. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Jerez 2020.
Well We know who Warthog is now:
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