Revealed: The reason Pramac Ducati disappeared as an option for Marc Marquez
Pramac Racing have now filled the seat that Johann Zarco left behind with Franco Morbidelli in the 2024 MotoGP rider line-up.
But Marquez held talks to join Pramac, Sky Italia revealed.
Marquez wanted a one-year contract which could be renewed annually but Pramac were insisting upon a two-year deal. This proved to be the sticking point.
“The VR46 management was good at moving early to bring Franco Morbidelli to Paolo Campinoti's team for 2024,” the report states.
The Pramac team would have offered a latest-spec Desmosedici, creating the fascinating situation that Marquez could move from arguably the worst bike in MotoGP to the best.
At Gresini he must make do with a year-old Desmosedici but, as Marco Bezzecchi has proved this year, that machine can still compete at the sharp end of MotoGP.
The report also insists that the Repsol Honda star rider has been talking to several teams.
“Marquez had started a series of negotiations,” Sky Italia report.
KTM were heavily linked several weeks and months ago, a team who have Red Bull as a powerful mutual sponsor with Marquez.
But their inability to get Dorna to allow them a fifth or sixth bike on the 2024 grid scuppered their hopes of attracting Marquez.
They could revisit the possibility of signing Marquez in 2025.
If he stays at Honda he will become a free agent in 2025, but if he joins Gresini Ducati as Sky Italia are now reporting, he may only pen a one-year deal.
The details of a possible deal with Gresini - which would pair him with his brother Alex Marquez - are yet to be revealed.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
