Ducati ‘not ready’ but ‘not surprised’ by Marc Marquez, Pramac declaration

Ducati Corse sporting director Mauro Grassilli says the factory was ‘not ready’ but also ‘not surprised’ by Marc Marquez publicly turning down the option of a move to Pramac Ducati for the 2025 MotoGP season.

Rumours on the eve of the Italian GP suggest Pramac's current title leader Jorge Martin has won the battle to become Francesco Bagnaia’s future team-mate and that Marquez would be promoted to factory machinery at Pramac…

But the eight-time world champion, now riding a 2023 machine at Gresini, has other ideas, stating: “Pramac is not an option for me.”

“It is a very delicate moment of the season. Each rider tries to make the best strategy for himself and for his future. [Marc's] statement therefore did not surprise us and we take note of it," Grassilli told SkySport.it. 

"Pramac is a formidable team, it is an official bike, managed by professionals."

Grassilli added: "We were not ready for these declarations [by Marquez], but we are not ready for many other declarations: we cannot always know what the riders are saying, who are special and super intelligent people and must say what they feel at that particular moment."  

Marquez spelt out on Thursday that the only Ducati options he would consider are either the factory team or staying at Gresini, with a factory bike.

The problem for Marquez is that Pramac looks set to turn down Yamaha’s advances and renew with Ducati for 2025, thus keeping its factory-spec supply which could otherwise be redistributed to Gresini and perhaps VR46.

“I expect Paolo Campinoti and Pramac to remain with us for at least the next two years,” said Grassilli.

Just how exclusive the Pramac-factory Ducati deal is remains unclear.

But if Marquez loses out to Martin at the official team and doesn’t get a factory bike at Gresini, speculation suggests he could switch to KTM.

Grassilli left the door open to some kind of compromise if a Marquez-Pramac deal is out of the question:

"Certainly [Marc Marquez] going to Pramac was one of the different analyses [we have considered], but not the only one. We are still evaluating many other hypotheses."

Ducati has ruled out officially announcing Bagnaia's 2025 team-mate during the Mugello weekend.