MotoGP

[p6x]

1 hour ago, GuzziMoto said:

But he seems to have an ego thing about being on the full factory team.

I think that Enea Bastianini getting the factory seat instead of him left him sour... there is also some prestige to go with being paired with Francesco Bagnaia who has a contract signed valid until 2026.

1 hour ago, GuzziMoto said:

Rumors suggest Marc may go elsewhere, one option being him and his brother both riding the GasGas factory bikes (really they are factory KTMs)

Marc made a mistake when he announced that he would be happy in any team with a current year spec'ed bike. He realized he sold himself too cheap. This is why I think he did a 180 degrees by contradicting himself, and changing any team to factory team exclusive. Why should he make Ducati's life easy?

Marc would be ill-advised to switch bike one more time, when time is what he has the least. I predict he is going to stay with Ducati next year.

1 hour ago, GuzziMoto said:

I would rather see Marc go to Aprilia, but that seems unlikely to happen.

The Aprilia is penciled to Enea Bastianini who is almost certain to lose his current ride. All the dominoes are going to fall into place once Ducati makes their announcement.

Pramac has confirmed they will continue the same arrangement next year. We know Aldeguer will get one of the two bikes, most likely Martin's. The second seemed to be a done deal for Marquez. Whatever happens, Franco Morbidelli is gone.

There were some rumors that Marquez could join Acosta in the KTM official team. Those were contradicted right away by Brad Binder's manager, who said Brad has a contract with KTM, not GasGas.

I am not 100% convinced that Ducati has decided between JM and MM.

[Joe]

6 hours ago, p6x said:

I think that Enea Bastianini getting the factory seat instead of him left him sour... there is also some prestige to go with being paired with Francesco Bagnaia who has a contract signed valid until 2026.

Marc made a mistake when he announced that he would be happy in any team with a current year spec'ed bike. He realized he sold himself too cheap. This is why I think he did a 180 degrees by contradicting himself, and changing any team to factory team exclusive. Why should he make Ducati's life easy?

Marc would be ill-advised to switch bike one more time, when time is what he has the least. I predict he is going to stay with Ducati next year.

The Aprilia is penciled to Enea Bastianini who is almost certain to lose his current ride. All the dominoes are going to fall into place once Ducati makes their announcement.

Pramac has confirmed they will continue the same arrangement next year. We know Aldeguer will get one of the two bikes, most likely Martin's. The second seemed to be a done deal for Marquez. Whatever happens, Franco Morbidelli is gone.

There were some rumors that Marquez could join Acosta in the KTM official team. Those were contradicted right away by Brad Binder's manager, who said Brad has a contract with KTM, not GasGas.

I am not 100% convinced that Ducati has decided between JM and MM.

The question is can Marc win a race this season or score enough points to challenge the 2024 spec factory Ducati’s on his 2023 spec bike. 🤔

[p6x]

13 hours ago, Joe said:

The question is can Marc win a race this season or score enough points to challenge the 2024 spec factory Ducati’s on his 2023 spec bike. 🤔

Most pundits are saying it is not a question of if, but when.

Look at the sprint race that just finished a few moments ago. MM93 is second behind Bagnaia.

Tomorrow, with Bagnaia's penalty to surrender positions on the grid, we may see the 93rd Ducati race win by the #93.

Jorge Martin did not finish the sprint race. MM93 is clearly in the world championship title race too, and he is fighting for that red Ducati alongside Bagnaia next year.

[LowRyter]

3 hours ago, p6x said:

Most pundits are saying it is not a question of if, but when.

Look at the sprint race that just finished a few moments ago. MM93 is second behind Bagnaia.

Tomorrow, with Bagnaia's penalty to surrender positions on the grid, we may see the 93rd Ducati race win by the #93.

Jorge Martin did not finish the sprint race. MM93 is clearly in the world championship title race too, and he is fighting for that red Ducati alongside Bagnaia next year.

So who will win first?  Acosta's first or MM's next? 

[PJPR01]

10 hours ago, LowRyter said:

So who will win first?  Acosta's first or MM's next? 

I don't want to jinx it...but am hoping that Marquez gets it, now that he's starting so much farther up in position, he doesn't have to try to go from 13/14 to 2nd...perhaps he can ride a clean race and win.  Mugello is a fast track...360 km/h top speed...just madness...but oh so thrilling to watch!

[Joe]

1 hour ago, PJPR01 said:

I don't want to jinx it...but am hoping that Marquez gets it, now that he's starting so much farther up in position, he doesn't have to try to go from 13/14 to 2nd...perhaps he can ride a clean race and win.  Mugello is a fast track...360 km/h top speed...just madness...but oh so thrilling to watch!

Being constantly on podium and only winning one race is how A Rins won a championship on his Suzuki. 🤔 Marc is on a mission to show everyone he’s still got it.

i hope Marc wins next too, but Jorge Martin is extremely fast. This makes for great racing drama, television ratings for MotoGP have to be up this year.

[LowRyter]

16 *  Joe

[GuzziMoto]

On 6/2/2024 at 12:19 AM, Joe said:

Being constantly on podium and only winning one race is how A Rins won a championship on his Suzuki. 🤔 Marc is on a mission to show everyone he’s still got it.

i hope Marc wins next too, but Jorge Martin is extremely fast. This makes for great racing drama, television ratings for MotoGP have to be up this year.

Yes, except it was Rins teammate at Suzuki Mir who did that, wasn't it?

Marc clearly still has speed, but I think the days of old with Marc dominating, with Marc able to start at the back and still win, are gone. The Honda he had was hard to get the speed out of it, but if you could manage it the Honda was faster then everything else. The bikes we have now, including the Ducati's that dominate, are fast but not in a way where there is hidden speed that the right racer can unlock and go way faster then everyone else can go. Marc will do well on a Ducati. I understand him wanting to be on a Ducati. I don't get him wanting to be on the factory team, which if he wants a current spec factory Ducati but not on the Pramac team it seems he is angling directly for the seat alongside Pecco. There is no other seat that fits that bill.

Marc might also do well on a KTM or Aprilia. But on a Ducati I think he will not get back to the domination he once had. Times have changed. That said, Aprilia has two factory team seats and only one likely racer to fill them right now. If Aprilia can't find anyone better they can keep Mav, but I hope that can replace Mav with someone better. Mav on his day can be fast enough to win, but that doesn't happen very often. They might move Raul up if he can get his act together, we had a glimpse of hope with Raul, but that seems to have only been a moment. Expectations are Joe Roberts gets one of the seats at Trackhouse, that means one of those two need to move up or move out. I am not sure moving Joe Roberts up is right, but if they want an American racer they don't have many options. But his speed right now seems to be down to the change in spec rubber for Moto3 and Moto2. The new Pirelli tires are a softer construction then the Dunlops they replaced, not sure how that will compare to the Michelins used in MotoGP. Could be good, could be bad.

[p6x]

As expected;

Ducati would have been foolish to not onboard MM93 instead of Martin. Whatever happens to the 2024 Championship, Marquez is certain to bring a lot of publicity to the brand.

Now, Martin better win the 2024 title, because he may not get another opportunity. I am not certain Aprilia is going to provide enough consistency to give him the weapons to fight with the Ducati.

The next question is, will Marquez be able to keep his Red Bull sponsorship in the Ducati factory team?

Bastianini is rumored to replace Acosta in the Gas Gas Tech3 team.

The biggest question mark is now Pramac. They have lost their top pilot, and will not get Marquez either. Will this be enough to tip the balance towards Yamaha?

If Pramac goes Yamaha, then VR46 or Gresini may get a Factory bike each?

[audiomick]

8 minutes ago, p6x said:

...will Marquez be able to keep his Red Bull sponsorship in the Ducati factory team?

I doubt it. Red Bull sponsors sportspersons and events to advertise Red Bull. Full stop. They're not likely to be interested in carrying a motorcycle manufacturer along for the ride.

[p6x]

I somewhat feel bad for Jorge Martin; until Marquez surprise announcement that he would not settle for a non factory team, I am of the opinion that Ducati were going to keep them both.

As Dominicali put it, it is a formidable marketing coup, and there was no way Ducati was going to let it slip out of its grip. He said he understood that the other teams were unhappy, but this is how the winning team can nitpick and the rest gets the leftovers, so to speak.

This is going to be an ulterior motivation for Martin to win with Pramac this year.

He also signed with Aprilia ahead of Ducati's official choice; a sort of pulling the rug from underneath their announcement. Now there is no more suspense, everybody knows Marquez is taking Bastianini' seat.

[LowRyter]

I suppose the rationale for MM93 was a business one.  So far as a racing decision, we'll see.  For me, I think all three deserve factory bikes in three different garages on three different teams.  It would be a hoot if Martin wins the title, I'm sure he's picked a lot of new fans, me being one.

[GuzziMoto]

I would disagree about Martin needing to win this year, it would be great for him to win this year and take the number 1 plate with him to Aprilia, but once at Aprilia I think he will elevate Aprilia to a championship contender. Ducati grabbed the best known racer on the grid, a racer that is at the end of his career, and let a championship caliber racer closer to the beginning of his career go. I suspect that will come back to haunt Ducati. Also, the combination of Pecco and Marc Marquez on the factory team does not seem like a good combination. That may implode. This move may help reduce Ducati's domination.

The way Ducati did it, telling Martin he had the seat and then taking that back, was weak and shows a lack of character. And it will likely motivate Martin even more. I suspect Martin will not show much respect for fellow Ducati racers for the rest of the season. Beating the other Ducati mounted racers will likely be more important to him then playing the Ducati team card.

[p6x]

4 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

Also, the combination of Pecco and Marc Marquez on the factory team does not seem like a good combination.

The Italian media are already all over that binomials: dream team or nightmarish couple?

4 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

I would disagree about Martin needing to win this year

I think it is about pride. If I was Martin, I would do all I can to win, which of course was the objective throughout. But he now has one more motivation: to show Ducati what they are going to lose. That being said, it is clear they don't care if Martin wins.

They already won! Ducati managed to recruit the best rider of the ultimate decade: Mark Marquez. All the rest is of secondary importance.

[GuzziMoto]

17 hours ago, p6x said:

The Italian media are already all over that binomials: dream team or nightmarish couple?

I think it is about pride. If I was Martin, I would do all I can to win, which of course was the objective throughout. But he now has one more motivation: to show Ducati what they are going to lose. That being said, it is clear they don't care if Martin wins.

They already won! Ducati managed to recruit the best rider of the ultimate decade: Mark Marquez. All the rest is of secondary importance.

Yes, Martin WANTS to win it this year. More so now then before no doubt. But if he doesn't win it this year he will have a shot next year, and the year after that.  Unlike Marc, who doesn't have many years left in him, Martin has plenty of years left to win the title. If Marc wins the title next year, he will probably only race one more year then retire. Where as Martin will be a thorn in Ducati's side long after Marc is done. I am not sure Ducati "won" by signing Marc to their factory team. They kinda look like idiots, especially the way they shafted Martin when Marc changed his mind. That was weak. And it shows you who is really in charge. But it should make MotoGP more interesting now that Ducati has less of a stranglehold on the top racers. And their factory team is going to be a struggle. We will probably see a semi-return to Marcs old ways, not so much the dominance but the aggression. He takes people out, and I suspect he will take out Pecco at least a few times. It may not be the "Dream Team" Ducati want it to be. And if / when Marc wins on the Ducati everyone will credit Marc and not Ducati. It is a lose / lose deal for Ducati. They should have stuck to their original stance on Marc. He brings nothing to them that they need.