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Marc Marquez is set to become Ducati’s factory rider in 2025, following the stunning announcement that championship leader Jorge Martin will join Aprilia.

It represents a stunning turn in the MotoGP ’25 market, as just a few days ago Martin was looking to promote factory Ducati and the big question was how Marquez would fit into the structure of a subsidiary or rival Ducati team. Manufacturer factory team.

The three-way battle for the Ducati seat alongside Picco Bagnaia has been narrowed down to just Marquez and Martin, and a report in the run-up to the Italian Grand Prix by the reputable Gazzetta dello Sport claimed the decision was in favor of Martin – albeit without putting pen to paper. Paper.

Martin’s behavior over the weekend suggested the reports were accurate, but his Ducati factory dream appeared to have evaporated within three days.

The Spanish version of Motorsport.com and Sky Sports Italia report that top Ducati officials, including CEO Claudio Domenicali and general manager Gigi Dalla Igna, have now settled on Marquez as Bagnaia’s future teammate.

Martin’s move at Aprilia confirms this – and creates the likely scenario of him taking the No. 1 plate next year from the Bologna factory to his counterpart in Noale.

What happened?

Ducati’s ideal solution was to mount both Martin and Marquez on factory-spec bikes until 2025, and Marquez – who is currently campaigning a year-old Ducati for Gresini – looked prepared to remain a satellite ride to make that happen.

However, he stunned the MotoGP paddock over the weekend by insisting he had no plans to go to Pramac, Ducati’s top team – and which the manufacturer had hoped to tempt him to stay (despite interest from a partner Possible new at Yamaha). Dangling at the prospect of signing Marquez’s caliber.

Now, Marquez – who is 35 points behind Martin in the standings but also on a bike widely viewed as inferior to Martin’s Ducati GP24 – wears the red livery of Ducati.

In the process, it would likely mean ending his partnership with Red Bull for the time being, given that Red Bull energy drink’s arch rival Monster is the main sponsor of the Ducati works team.

For Martin, any scenario in which he is overlooked for the works seat makes his future with Ducati untenable.

The Spaniard was already offended by being snubbed the factory upgrade from Pramac in favor of Ena Bastianini for 2023, repeatedly stating publicly last year that he felt he had done everything that could be asked of him to prove his suitability. To get a factory seat.

The move to Aprilia, as a replacement for his retiring great friend Aleix Espargaro, suggested Ducati had already chosen Marquez over him, and that proved to be too far.

Aprilia announced the news with a video of CEO Massimo Rivola and Espargaro himself presenting Martin as an autograph.

The other strokes of these two seismic movements have yet to fully reveal themselves – be it for Pramac and its suitor Yamaha, for Marquez’s current Gresini team or current Bastianini – although it has been reported that he is heading towards Tech3 The seat and factory-spec KTM RC16 is currently being exploited to exciting effect To admire by Pedro Acosta.