Marc Marquez and Ducati line-up theory shared: “The way to keep everyone happy…”

A suggestion of how to “keep everyone happy” in the debate over Marc Marquez’s future has been shared.

Gresini’s Marquez and Pramac’s Jorge Martin are both bidding to replace Enea Bastianini in the factory Ducati team.

Marquez rides a GP23 this year but has made it clear that he wants the latest spec machinery in 2025.

“I personally think the way to keep everyone happy - not everyone, but the majority - is that Marc gets a factory bike at Gresini,” Simon Crafar said from the French MotoGP paddock in Le Mans.

“And he doesn’t have to change Red Bull.”

Marquez is sponsored by Red Bull, a rival energy drink to Monster who work alongside Ducati.

Crafar continued: “The big question is Enea and Jorge. What will happen there?

“Clearly Jorge doesn’t know.”

Martin won the French MotoGP to extend his championship lead, while Marquez took P2 after a brilliant late overtake of Francesco Bagnaia.

“We saw vintage Marquez in the sprint and in the race. Absolutely fantastic,” Crafar said.

“The riding, then the overtake on Pecco, was wonderful.
“Pecco is such a good rider and that’s not an easy place.

“What he did was brake at an angle, at the corner. It’s a shorter route. You can brake just as hard on a slight angle, as you can up and down. That’s what he did.

“He went straight there to beat Pecco to the point.

“When you arrive it’s on the wrong angle. You’ve got to do a bit of extra turning on the middle.

“He got it stopped, got it turned, beautifully. Super skill to pull it off against a rider who is so fast.

“Marc is prepared to go to another level on everything, including on overtakes.”

Marquez has declared that his adaptation from Honda to Ducati is finished.

Although a first win for the Italian manufacturer eludes him, he has frequently been on the podium in both sprints and grands prix this season.

Marquez is 40 points off championship leader Martin after five rounds.

“It has been harder,” Crafar said about Marquez taming his new bike.

“He warned at the beginning of the year that it wasn’t going to be easy.

“He has told us the numbers of where he aims at.

“Now, you can see he’s happy because he’s got the speed of the winner.

“If he got past Diggia easier, quicker, cleaner then he’d have had a couple of laps of having a breather, to get the lactic acid out and the tyre temperature down, ready to have a go.

“To have that speed? That’s why he is so happy.”