Marquez: Ducati made contact...

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has revealed Ducati made contact to ask for 'information' regarding his future, before he ultimately signed a new four-year deal with Honda.

Having won the premier-class crown for six of the last seven seasons, it would have been a shock if Ducati didn't show interest in the Spaniard.

Indeed, before Marquez had re-signed, Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna all but confirmed an approach would be made, responding to the question of whether 'it would be a dream for him to work with Marquez' with the words: "I've won championships in 125, in 250, in Superbike [with Aprilia]. But not any championship in MotoGP. This is my clear target. So I think I answered the question…"

But it would have been a major shock if the Italian had been able to tempt Marquez from Honda at this stage, the Spaniard duly explaining HRC had offered the best project from a sporting point of view and that it was also a 'decision of the heart' not to leave the factory that gave him his MotoGP chance.

"I am 27-years-old, I have a contract for another four years. You never know," Marquez told SkySport.it, when asked if he will ever be seen on another brand of motorcycle.

"I heard people say that I have to win with another bike too, but I made a decision of the heart. They [Honda] gave me the opportunity to switch to MotoGP from Moto2 and to win.

"I heard [from] Ducati, who asked for information, but the Honda project was the best from a sporting point of view.

"At the moment I say no [about riding another bike], but in the future you never know."

Marquez added that signing for double the usual two-year contract length had first been suggested by HRC.

"The first idea was from Honda," he said. "We started talking and we saw that it was a winning project for everyone. It came out as a four-year project, it is the first time in history. At the end of the contract we will see if we were right."

If Marquez can win this year's title he will be tied with Valentino Rossi as the most successful champion of the modern premier-class era and only one behind the all-time record of eight titles by Giacomo Agostini.

But the coronavirus disruption means 2020 looks set to be a 'sprint' season, of around ten races.

"I expect a sprint championship, but it won't change the strategy much," he said. "You have to take risks, but don't make mistakes [because] we can't lose points. We hope to start soon, then we'll decide the final strategy."

While there are still plenty of unknowns about this year's championship, the time off has at least allowed the #93's shoulder to heal. "It's better, especially in the last three weeks the nerve has also started to work and the muscle has regained strength," he said.

The shoulder weakness had also contributed to Honda taking the 'wrong road' in testing, before a last-minute reset.

"The shoulder was an important factor," he said. "Other Honda riders also took the wrong road, then there was a reset on the second day in Qatar. We were all struggling, so I tried again and improved many things."

Aside from the coronavirus disruption, the big change for 2020 is that Marc will have younger brother and reigning Moto2 champion Alex as his team-mate.

"Our relationship is very good, for me he is the brother and not the rider. When we are at home we talk about motorcycles, but respect is the first thing between the two of us. Every now and then we get angry, but only for 5 minutes," Marc revealed.

The RCV is known to be a challenging machine for anyone to ride, but Marc thinks it's better to arrive at Honda as a rookie than from one of the 'smoother' inline four-cylinder machines.

"As a rookie the right bike is Yamaha, at least as far as I have seen so far," Marc explained. "Even Suzuki. If you have to try Honda, it is better to get there without having driven a Yamaha."

So far, only Yamaha (Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo) and Suzuki (Alex Rins and Joan Mir) have completed their 2021 rider line-ups, with Alex yet to join Marc in gaining a Repsol Honda extension.

Meanwhile Ducati, having also approached Vinales, now looks set to pick its future Official team line-up from among those currently under factory contract (Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci, Jack Miller, Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco).