Suppo: ‘Ducati will try and sign Bagnaia first, there will be a big fight’

Every Ducati MotoGP rider has their contract ending after the 2024 MotoGP season, meaning the battle for place will be very intense.

Francesco Bagnaia is a double world champion, Jorge Martin was a title contender last season and is one of the most talented riders on the grid, while they now have eight-time world champion Marc Marquez on their books at Gresini.

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But Suppo, a former team manager at Ducati, Honda and Suzuki believes the task is manageable, although a very big challenge.

“All Ducati riders have their contract finishing this year, so I assume the market will start soon,” Suppo told MotoGP.com. “Their bike is the best, so all riders on a Ducati, at this moment, will want to stay on a Ducati. 

“But KTM and Aprilia will continue their growth, and Yamaha and Honda having concessions should give them greater potential. 

“Already we saw in Valencia that Honda has taken a step. If they use the concessions wisely, they could close the gap a lot by mid-season. Then, the market will be totally different.”

One rider that could be very difficult to hold onto if he’s not given a factory seat is Martin, who was strongly linked with an exit from Ducati last season. 

“Jorge Martin has already said that next year he will be in the factory Ducati team, or he’ll be with another factory,” said Suppo. “He wants a factory bike. It means that if by mid-season, one of KTM, Aprilia, Honda, or Yamaha have shown they’ve closed the gap, then Jorge is on the market. 

“Plus, who knows what will happen with Marc? He will be competitive, so, in theory, he’ll be of interest to the factory Ducati team. 

“But then that means you lose one of the others, so it won’t be easy to manage.”

It will obviously be a priority to sort out Martin’s future, but Bagnaia is likely to rank ahead of the Spaniard in terms of importance, while Marquez could also be an option for the Lenovo Ducati team, as is the case with Marco Bezzecchi.

Speaking about Ducati’s plan, Suppo speculated: "I’m sure first Ducati will try and sign Pecco [Bagnaia]. He’s a double World Champion, he’s Ducati’s main man, so they need to keep him. 

“Therefore, I assume there will only be one place available in the factory team and there will be a big fight for that place. 

“In the meantime, if Ducati’s rivals show they’ve closed the gap at the start of the season, then it will make it more difficult to keep all their riders and they will have less time to decide. 

“I think they would like to wait until the summer, but maybe that won’t be possible.”

While Bagnaia is expected to remain a factory Ducati rider no matter how the beginning of the season takes shape, the Italian won’t have a say on his team-mate, according to Suppo.

“I don’t think Pecco will have a say in who his teammate is because, at least in my time, unless there’s a really bad relationship between two riders then there's no reason not to sign them. 

“If there isn’t a character problem, a rider cannot complain about who the team signs just because he thinks they might be faster than them. Each factory must try and have the strongest team they can.”