Gigi Dall’Igna told “I don’t know how they justify that” amid rider decision
"in terms of age, and what he’s delivering right now, Martin is the guy to go with"
Gigi Dall’Igna’s big decision about who will ride the 2025 factory Ducati was mentioned on the Crash MotoGP podcast.
We were at the Catalunya MotoGP in Barcelona to see Aleix Espargaro’s retirement speech, his sprint win then Pecco Bagnaia’s grand prix glory.
The looming storyline revolves around whether Ducati will go with Marc Marquez, Jorge Martin or Enea Bastianini alongside Bagnaia next year.
“For Ducati, if they don’t go with Martin, justifying that decision is, to me, very hard,” Robert Jones said.
“I don’t know how they justify that.
“I know the appeal of Marquez. But in terms of age, and what he’s delivering right now, Martin is the guy to go with.
“He said on several occasions that he can’t do any more. I really believe he can’t.
“If he goes on to win the title this year - which he looks like the favourite to do - what else can he do?
“He’s there every weekend, winning nearly every weekend.
“It’s hard to match him especially if Bagnaia has issues in the sprint and Marc has issues in the qualifying.”
Pramac’s Martin leads the MotoGP championship ahead of Bagnaia, Marquez and Bastianini heading into Mugello this weekend.
The upcoming Italian MotoGP was also debated on the Crash MotoGP podcast.
Aleix Espargaro retirement discussed
Our MotoGP editor Peter McLaren was present in Barcelona to hear Espargaro’s tearful retirement.
“Thursday we heard rumours that Aleix would announce something,” Peter reported on the podcast.
“To do it at his home round was the right place.
“You never know what a rider will be like, after that. Once their mind-set changes, what will they be like on-track?
“Great for him. So much has happened at this track for him over the years.
“Double win last year, then the sprint… it wasn’t quite a fairytale finish.
“He’s got the rest of the season to look forward to. The Aprilia is a good bike - but one does well, and the other struggles…”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
