“Multi-million dollar” warning to Marc Marquez from Ducati hierarchy

Marquez chose to step away from the biggest-money contract in MotoGP a year before it was due to expire because he wanted to instead compete with Gresini’s Ducati machinery.

Such is the excitement to see Marquez on a Desmosedici, there is already speculation that Ducati will want to tie him down beyond his one-year Gresini contract by offering him a factory position.

But, even if they do so, it won’t be the type of mega-money deal that Marquez has previously been given.

“Almost all the [riders’ contracts] are expiring, in Ducati we will wait for the first 5-6 races to get a picture of the situation even if we have quite clear ideas,” said Paolo Ciabatti, who has exited his MotoGP role to oversee Ducati’s off-road programme, to Motosprint. 

“Looking ahead to 2025, in all likelihood one of the two factory riders will be Francesco Bagnaia. 

“As far as Marc Marquez is concerned, we will make our assessments based on the results.

“But from our point of view, the times of multi-million dollar contracts are over. 

“The fact that we are the manufacturer with the most desired bike allows us to make more sustainable reasoning on an economic level.”

Ducati finally ended their 15-year winless run through Bagnaia in 2022 after pouring their faith into young, developing riders rather than splashing the cash on the likes of Valentino Rossi or Jorge Lorenzo.

In that sense, the arrival of Marquez to Gresini (and whatever might come next) is somewhat of a change in philosophy for the Italian manufacturer.

“Everyone saw Marc Marquez's smile after his first outing in testing,” Ciabatti said. 

“As well as the times he managed to record without pushing to the maximum. 

“I think next year the championship will be very balanced and he will be one of the protagonists, no one expects the opposite.”

But Ducati management will have their work cut out, Ciabatti warned.

"Marquez will give us a few more headaches,” he said. 

“We will be called upon to manage complexity, given the strong personalities we have, Bagnaia and Martin above all. 

“We have a lot of work to do, but for the show to have so many riders able to fight for the win will be very interesting.”