2025 Silly Season

p4p1 said:

Being somewhat cut throat and admittedly bias. If I was Ducati and MM was also factory team or I will go elsewhere, I would be offering the contract to Marquez, but offer Martin a full factory supported contract with a decent pay bump that he can take or leave.
My reasoning (without bringing sponsorship issues) is that Marquez is going to be a threat on the KTM or the Aprilia. If he is a threat on the KTM then you can bet your ass that he will bring Acosta a long with him and they will form a super team, that by 2027 (MM will be 34 and Pedro in his prime) could lead to a dry period for Ducati. We don't know if Martin will be the same threat as Marquez albeit for longer due to his age. Though Martin himself at 26 isn't exactly young either.
For the future, Ducati have Aldeguer who may or may not come on to be world championship material but if he doesn't reach the heights they want him to they could throw a shitload of money at Acosta, who may or may not be a world champion at that stage.
The jury is still out on Martin when the real pressure is on. We know how MM responds to it and we know how Pecco responds to it. But last year, when the pressure for the championship was really on, he faltered big time.
I do think Ducati hold all the cards, and don't need to be in a rush to make their decision. Martin may want respect and status but above all else he wants to win. Ducati give him his best chance for that. If I was them, I wouldn't be making a decision until around Austria. That gives them a much clearer picture of what both MM and JM are looking like and if in the meantime they lose Martin to another manufacturer, they still have Pecco, MM, Bastia to take on him and whoever he signs for.
I'm just not convinced Ducati, if they can get MM on the factory team, despite all the personal sponsor stuff should make the move until things are clearer. It's not just about winning the championship either, if Pecco wins again, strong possibility and MM finishes second with JM 3rd, they would have egg on their face again.

Having said all of that though, if there is a realistic option to give MM everything he wants in a satellite team, while keeping the factory sponsors happy meaning I can keep Martin as well, then that is the win-win option. Personally I would lock up MM first, even if that option is on a satellite bike. That way it can be spun that we signed MM first because he was the priority (keeps MM happy and feeling valued), we signed MM first to the satellite because we always wanted JM on the factory team but had to negotiate with our factory sponsors who were pushing for MM, or something along those lines.

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michaelm said:

According to Nick Harris anyway MM is saying he definitely won't go to Pramac, Pramac are saying they are definitely running two factory/GP25 bikes next year, and Ducati are adamant they won't provide more than 2 GP25s.to satellite teams. MM has perhaps worked himself into a corner.

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michaelm said:

According to Nick Harris anyway MM is saying he definitely won't go to Pramac, Pramac are saying they are definitely running two factory/GP25 bikes next year, and Ducati are adamant they won't provide more than 2 GP25s.to satellite teams. MM has perhaps worked himself into a corner.

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Sennas_Caress said:

If those options are set in stone, yes.

Although negotiations are rarely black-white, and he might have very valid reasons to have the stance he does.

In my humble opinion, Marc realised after testing and racing last years Ducati that he can be competitive on any European bike.
He aimed high, by wanting to go Ducati Lenovo. During the season he's seen Viñales and Espargaró deliver on the Apirilia and Brad and Acosta deliver on the KTM.

He might value a longer term deal on a European Factory supported bike higher than last years Ducati. I can understand why.

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MichaelBolton said:

How much more expensive is to provide an additional current spec bike? Ducati are stupid if they're not willing to give one to Marc/Gresini. They swore off doing the 5 official current bikes after 2022, but that's because they gave one of them to Luca ....... Marini who isn't anywhere near the level of Marc. I understand them going for Martín for the official team, but not willing to entertain giving Gresini a factory spec bike and trying to force Marc into signing for Pramac is terrible optics for Ducati, specially if Marc ends up winning or contends until the end for the championship and then leaves to another European manufacturer. I don't get why act so friendly with Marc in Parc Ferme just to give him the cold shoulder like this. Just like we saw after 2015, a pissed off Marc is gonna be a threat... Ducati will decide to whom should he should be a threat towards...

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michaelm said:

I think he likes Gresini, he likes Frankie Carchedi, and he likes his brother having a premier class ride particularly on the same team. Looks like he might have given all this up for a Ducati Corse ride but perhaps not for a Pramac ride. I agree he could be competitive on a KTM or Aprilia, and if he goes Ducati’s reign might be shorter than it would otherwise have been.

Or Nick Harris could be wrong.

Now you mention it VR46 might not be best pleased at agreeing getting a factory bike.

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Hollywood said:

I think Marc will be at KTM for these reasons:
1. I dont see him taking a 1 year deal, and Gresini's contract with Ducati is up at the end of 2025, so they really could not offer more.
2. KTM already offered a deal for Marc and his brother to join GasGas, so there is absolutely interest.
3. Marc's sponsorship deals work with KTM/GasGas.
4. Money and longer term contract, I think KTM might be the only factory willing to sign him for more then 2 years, and we know they have deep pockets.

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Hollywood said:

I think Marc will be at KTM for these reasons:
1. I dont see him taking a 1 year deal, and Gresini's contract with Ducati is up at the end of 2025, so they really could not offer more.
2. KTM already offered a deal for Marc and his brother to join GasGas, so there is absolutely interest.
3. Marc's sponsorship deals work with KTM/GasGas.
4. Money and longer term contract, I think KTM might be the only factory willing to sign him for more then 2 years, and we know they have deep pockets.

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JPSLotus said:

One thing I will say though is perhaps there is a negotiation ongoing with Gresini Racing about adding an additional year with Ducati for 2026 so as to get MM on the bike for 2 years?

But I agree with you otherwise. I think KTM makes the most sense at this point, plus he and Dani would get to work again together which would be insane to consider. I actually feel like if KTM signs him for the next 2 seasons, Ducati may not see another championship again.

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michaelm said:

You raise an interesting point about Gresini, they indeed only have a contract for one more year with Ducati, so perhaps their future as a Ducati team is part of all this. I can’t see Ducati continuing to have 8 bikes on the grid forever. They probably expected VR46 to go to Yamaha, but perhaps it is VR46 vs Gresini to be a Ducati satellite team in the medium to long term. I have left my tinfoil hat in the wardrobe previously, but it did occur to me that Valentino might be sufficiently petty to have possibly thwarting MM as a motive for his team staying with Ducati, although he would see it as repayment in kind no doubt.

Sure MM elsewhere particularly with Acosta at KTM might make any Ducati dynasty rather short lived, but MM doesn’t have limitless years left to him and can possibly mount a reasonable challenge for the title this year even on a GP23, and signing for KTM or Aprilia next year might not help his prospects this year.

If this is Ducati acting against Gigi’s advice and preferences then making a wrong decision which will prove disastrous in the longterm would hardly be unprecedented, they are arrogant fools with very poor man management skills for which Gigi has compensated imo.

What I do wonder is what MM’s plan and angle is in all this, in his early days I thought he was a rhinoceros who just charged at everything (mostly fairly successfully), but I now think he is quite smart in general, and that what he says to the press is very considered and often quite nuanced, if not with the same wit in his second language that Valentino displayed. He does seem to largely tell the truth even if in a manner which advantages him, and I am sure he does have good options, although on the face of things currently he looks like he might be overplaying his hand. Riding a GP25 for Pramac looked like a fairly good option if not his preferred one, but he seems to have rejected this option with unusual vehemence.

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