Jorge Martin revealed he felt as though Ducati “didn’t care what I proved” on track before its decision to perform a U-turn on its 2025 factory ride decision in favour of Marc Marquez.
Martin finished runner-up to Francesco Bagnaia in the 2023 MotoGP Championship, taking the fight to the Italian all the way to the finale in Valencia and in this year’s edition he currently holds a seven-point lead in the championship.
Martin’s accolades in 2024 have seen the Spaniard win two Grand Prixs at Portimao and Le Mans, in addition to picking up five Sprint race victories.
At one point Martin established a 38-point lead over Bagnaia, and Ducati had informed him that he was going to join the factory team in the lead-up to the Mugello race.
Ducati changed its mind when Marquez publicly said his only option with Ducati would be the factory outlet, with him completely ruling out a factory spec bike with any Ducati satellite team.
Martin then chose his next best option on the table which was to switch to the Aprilia factory squad.
In an interview with DAZN, Martin expressed how he felt: “It was more frustration that I wasn’t going, not that they took Marquez, [might have] renewed Enea [Bastianini].
“It was more frustration, that after fighting it so hard, trying to prove myself to someone and they didn’t care what I proved, that I felt more frustrated, like, ‘I am a fool,’ like being behind that so much and it didn’t really matter.
“In the end it was just that, I was the one who handled it the best out of my environment, it wasn’t as hard as it seemed.
“It was happy at the same time that moment because I felt like I could go somewhere else that they loved me a lot.”
Once it was confirmed that Ducati opted for Marquez, Martin said that his move to Aprilia was done swiftly.
“Nothing, it was so fast that it was so easy, that same afternoon I was already in a different mindset, so it was fast,” he added.
Ducati’s move has seen its current rider Enea Bastianini opt for a satellite Tech3 KTM in 2025, with VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi accompanying Martin on the Aprilia next year.
They did care, that’s why they wanted to give you the seat but Marquez takes priority that’s all. It’s not like Ducati was looking to replace Enea and didn’t consider Martin. Martin was the top choice behind Marquez. They made a mistake in not confirming their plan with Marquez before momentarily confirming Martin so that was handled poorly, Martin was one of their top choices but it’s understandable why they chose marquez.
1st. Marc said Pramac wasn’t an option. That in no way prevented Ducati from giving him a Factory Spec GP25 and keep him at Gresini. Marc said moving from one satellite team to another made no sense and he owed Gresini, not to do that. Marc is my favorite of all MotoGp riders. Personally, I wish HRC had their stuff together and he never left, but he did.
2. Ducati did handle this all wrong. They shouldn’t have committed to Martin, IF Marc was even remotely possible to be a Factory Team rider, so early. They should’ve waited. They had all the cards, as was proven by their decision. Martin feeling slighted/disrespected is totally understandable. That being said, imagine how Bastianini feels. Just think if due to lady luck Bastianini ends up being a serious challenger for the title. He’s on the Factory Team and you (Ducati) have already given up on him months ago… It’s like choosing Martin, then picking Marquez so early in the season is like admitting you made a mistake by signing Bastianini.