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Alex Marquez to stay with Gresini Ducati for MotoGP 2025

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Gresini Racing, which has a 2025 contract with Ducati to remain one of its satellite teams, has reached an agreement with Alex Marquez to extend their partnership next season.

Marquez joined Gresini in 2023 from Honda, with which he made his premier class debut in 2020.

After a first year with the factory team, due to the premature retirement of Jorge Lorenzo, the 2019 Moto2 champion was transferred to the LCR team, where he spent two seasons until the end of 2022 and where he suffered extraordinarily from the competitive slump of the RC213V.

That lack of confidence with the bike led him to look for a way out, which led to his signing with Gresini, with which he made his debut at the 2023 Portuguese GP with an encouraging fifth position, sharing the box that season with Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio, riding year-old machinery.

After two podiums in his first season with Gresini, as well as two victories in Sprint races (Great Britain and Malaysia), Marquez has welcomed his brother Marc Marquez as team-mate this year — both inheriting the Desmosedici GP23 from last year.

Turning 28 earlier this year, Alex Marquez, who came to the world championship in 2012, was Moto3 champion in 2014, and Moto2 champion in 2019.

This opened the door for a MotoGP step with Honda, which promoted him to the premier class in 2020, where he achieved podiums at the Le Mans and Aragon races.

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

With Marquez’s renewal, Gresini closes half of its rider line-up following the news earlier this month that his older brother will move to the factory Ducati team in 2025.

An official announcement is expected soon.

The 2025 grid is now shaping up quickly following Ducati’s announcement that it will field Marc Marquez in its factory squad, with Jorge Martin moving to Aprilia alongside Marco Bezzecchi.

Maverick Vinales will leave Aprilia for Tech3 KTM, joining Enea Bastianini, while the Austrian marque had already confirmed Pedro Acosta’s promotion to its factory squad next season alongside Brad Binder.

Double world champion Francesco Bagnaia signed a new Ducati deal prior to the start of the season, while Yamaha locked Fabio Quartararo down for two more seasons earlier this year.

Coming into the year, Honda already had Luca Marini and Johann Zarco on contracts through to the end of 2025, while Joan Mir looks set to stick with HRC beyond this year.

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Martin manager expects Ducati to provide full support for rest of MotoGP 2024

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Jorge Martin’s manager says Ducati “now has the opportunity to demonstrate that it keeps intact those values it stands for” by fully supporting him in the 2024 MotoGP title fight.

Championship leader Martin will leave the Ducati stable at the end of the current season, after the marque went against its original plan to promote him to the factory team in 2025.

Ducati’s decision to promote Marc Marquez instead led to Martin signing a multi-year deal with Aprilia, where he will be joined by Marco Bezzecchi.

Martin leads the championship by 18 points coming into this weekend’s eighth round of the season in the Netherlands.

Racing with full factory machinery in Pramac colours, Martin’s impending exit to Ducati rival Aprilia has raised fears the Spaniard may no longer get the latest bike developments.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Martin’s manager Albert Valera said: “With Jorge, Ducati now has the opportunity to demonstrate that it keeps intact those values ​​that it stands for.

“Since Jorge signed with Ducati he has always received the treatment of an official rider, with an official motorcycle, and at all times he was given the same evolutions that the factory riders did.

“They always complied, and I trust that they will continue to do so — out of respect for the championship, their riders and all the Ducatistas (fans).”

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Ducati did continue to let Jack Miller test new items after it was announced that he would be joining KTM for the 2023 season.

However, the circumstances here are different, given the prospect of Martin taking the #1 plate to a direct rival having been passed over by Ducati in favour of Marquez.

Commenting on the events that led to Martin leaving Ducati for Aprilia, Valera added: “In Barcelona, ​​Ducati presented us with a scenario in which it could keep the three parties involved under its umbrella: Jorge, Pramac and Marquez.

“For a reason beyond our control and Pramac’s control, that idea was not possible and at that moment we understood that there were beginning to be doubts.

“The plan that was offered to him in Montmelo began to go wrong in Mugello, and he decided to take another path.”

Motorsport.com understands that Marquez’s refusal to take a factory bike at Pramac for 2025 ahead of the Italian GP shook Ducati management, especially CEO Claudio Domenicali.

With Martin initially told he would be getting the factory seat, this moment ultimately forced Ducati into its surprise U-turn.

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How 2024’s ‘fake’ Bezzecchi got his factory MotoGP wishes with Aprilia

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola says the Italian marque has leaned on what Marco Bezzecchi did in MotoGP prior to 2024 as to what he can be capable of in 2025.

On Monday, following initial Motorsport.com reports last week, Aprilia announced that it had signed Valentino Rossi protege Bezzecchi to its factory team for 2025 to join Jorge Martin.

Aprilia has made no secrets of its desire to hire an Italian rider for its factory squad, and at one stage five-time grand prix winner Enea Bastianini appeared to be favourite for that before ultimately signing with KTM to race with Tech3 next year.

Bezzecchi’s name remained in the conversation, however, and when Maverick Vinales elected to sign for KTM to partner Bastianini, the planets aligned for the VR46 rider to get his factory wishes.

The 25-year-old won three grands prix in 2023 on his way to third in the standings aboard a 2022-spec Ducati at VR46 and turned down an offer to take a factory Desmosedici with Pramac for 2024.

Bezzecchi was banking on having strong machinery, albeit a year old, while still surrounded by his trusted crew and waiting for the rider market to open up for 2025. That has come to pass, rewarding his patience, though from the off it was evident he would not be getting his wishes at Ducati.

After seven rounds, Bezzecchi has scored just one podium in 2024 and amassed 45 points; at the same stage in 2023, he’s already won twice and had 126 points to his credit in third in the standings. Team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio is on 74 points, albeit without a podium thus far.

Bezzecchi has struggled to get to grips with the GP23, as the way the bike works under braking goes against his style. The Italian is a hard braker but doing that on the GP23 leads to understeer problems in the turns. These were issues similar to Bastianini’s last year when he stepped up to the factory team.

Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team

Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

But as far as Rivola is concerned, what has happened this year evidently isn’t a true reflection of Bezzecchi’s talents and it hasn’t counted against him in staking his claim for the factory RS-GP.

«Yeah, it’s true. It’s a good point,» Rivola said when asked if Bezzecchi’s form in 2024 was a bit of a concern. «When a rider one year performs in such a good way and the following year it’s not the same you start wondering if that means not enough talent or if there are some other issues that could come from different parts, not necessarily technically or whatever.

«At the end my feeling is the real Bez is the one of last year and not one of this year and for this season I still hope that we keep the fake to get better results for us [Aprilia].

«I trust in his speed and his talent quite a lot. It looks to me that he has quite a Latin character and we are used to that. Aleix for example is one of those. Jorge also looks to be one of those. It will be quite a motivating garage in Aprilia Racing but I’m looking forward to that.»

Rivola highlights Bezzecchi’s wet weather prowess as one impressive characteristic, with the Italian scoring his first grand prix win in those conditions in Argentina last year.

He also points to Bezzecchi’s crushing win in India last year as proof of talent, highlighting an adaptability that will no doubt serve the Italian well when he jumps to the RS-GP in Valencia’s post-race test in November.

«There are characteristics for sure that were quite impressive to me,» Rivola adds. «For sure riding on the wet is one, the other in particular, the first time and the only time we went on a track that was new to everybody [Indian GP] he won by a huge gap.

«So, there are signs of talents that are… something you really see, like this guy is something special. You could argue that this year he is not delivering good performance despite for example Marc Marquez has the same bike and he is always fighting for a top position.

Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team

Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«So, I think also that sometimes there are external factors, not just technical that can guide the performance and the tricky aspect and the nice aspect is also the one to find what is really the secret to align the planets.

«Sometimes you see riders; if you look at Maverick for example in Austin, and I expected him to become world champion. But unfortunately, the planets are not always aligned. So, we need to find a way to align those planets.»

Signing a multi-year deal, Bezzecchi is going to be afforded time to try and understand the Aprilia. The benchmark will be the highest he has had in MotoGP with 2023 runner-up and current championship leader Jorge Martin as a team-mate.

Based on this year alone, that may appear to be a one-sided fight. But analysing Bezzecchi’s results in 2024 are hard when the best GP23 rider is eight-time world champion Marc Marquez.

Di Giannantonio has had more consistency at VR46 than Bezzecchi but hasn’t scaled podium heights yet. The same is true of Gresini’s Alex Marquez on the other GP23, who sits between the VR46 pair in the standings.

Aprilia is right to take the wider view of Bezzecchi and pairing him with one of the top three best riders in the world right now may elevate him to a level Ducati may never have seen had he remained one of its satellite riders.

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Adapting to all new line-up in MotoGP 2025 the only «question mark» for us

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Aprilia says adapting to an all-new MotoGP rider line-up remains the only “question mark” for the marque as it prepares to welcome Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi from Ducati in 2025.

Aprilia’s MotoGP programme is set for a major reshuffle next year, with the two riders who have played a major role in transforming the RS-GP into a race-winning bike leaving for pastures new.

Aleix Espargaro, who has been one of the cornerstones of the Aprilia project is retiring from active competition and is set to take on a test rider role with Honda, while Maverick Vinales will move to the satellite Tech3 KTM squad after more than three years with the Italian manufacturer.

The two have been replaced with two top-quality riders in Martin and Bezzecchi, both joining from the Ducati fold, although it does mean Aprilia will have to start 2025 with a fresh slate.

Speaking following the news that Bezzecchi will leave VR46 to join Aprilia on a multi-year contract, the Noale-based marque’s CEO Massimo Rivola admitted that having two new riders in 2025 is not “ideal” for the factory.

However, he also believes, both Martin and Bezzecchi are the right candidates to lead the squad forward through its transition phase.

“That is the only question mark that we have because it’s not ideal to change two riders at the same time,” he said.

Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team

Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“But with such two good talents, we are betting on the right horses. It’s not ideal but we also have a satellite team and I hope that the satellite [Trackhouse] team gives us a bit of continuity.

“Again, it’s not ideal but when you have a couple like Martin and Bezzecchi you must be happy.”

Espargaro and Vinales are moving to rival manufacturers in 2025 following their departures from Aprilia, although the former’s appointment at Honda is yet to be made official.

Asked who will help lead the bike development over the remainder of the season, as Aprilia would not want Espargaro and Vinales to take its tech secrets to other teams, Rivola stressed that it is important to not undermine the work put in by test rider Lorenzo Savadori, who has sacrificed results in wildcard outings in order to further hone the RS-GP.

“To be honest we need to give credit to Lorenzo Savadori who has been our test rider for many years so far,” he said.

“This bike looks like not really competitive when he does wildcard. I’d say he is a bit of a victim of us. You need to have the attitude and the love for your team, your factory, your manufacturer to do what you have to do. And so far we always got in the right direction.

“For sure the help of the riding style of Maverick gave us an additional boost to the development because Aleix was already with us for a lot of years and for sure having a satellite team was also another step forward.

“Soon there will be four RS-GP 24s [with Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez also getting the latest-spec chassis], so that would be another way to step up.

“But we think that the drawing office and the test team at Noale are doing quite a great job. Obviously still not enough and I know that it will never be enough. But we rely and trust a lot on their job.”

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