The Backstory of the Marquez-Ducati Deal
In 2024, Ducati Corse General Manager Luigi Dall’Igna was determined to promote Marc Marquez to the official team at all costs. Dall’Igna was well aware that faced with a mechanism related to the Concessions that would ‘immobilize’ Ducati, it was necessary to have the best rider – by far – on the starting grid in the box.
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Think about what Marc Marquez could have done riding the Aprilia not only in 2025 but also at the start of 2026 when Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin seemed destined to dominate the season. The nine-time world champion and reigning champion now finds himself 18 points from the top and can use the break to recover some strength in his right arm, which has significantly affected the 2026 season of the Cervera phenomenon.
Marc Marquez has officially renewed with Ducati until 2028. The sporting director of the Borgo Panigale factory, Mauro Grassilli, explained that the negotiation was not as simple as it might have seemed from the outside.
Ducati ‘broke’ the piggy bank
The main reason, of course, is linked to the fact that Marquez’s financial demand was certainly not comparable to the modest one accepted in 2024 just to wear red: “The renewal was more complex because the rider wanted something different from the initial agreement, both in economic terms and regarding the agreement itself and many other aspects – explained Grassilli as reported by the publication motosan.es – we are an important company, but we do not have unlimited resources. We cannot satisfy every request. Finding a balance while staying within the limits of our structure and our possibilities was not easy. In the end, however, we succeeded, thanks to the support of sponsors and other partners.”
“We made it, but working together with him – added Grassilli – we have confidence in Marc, both as an athlete and as a person. He never gave us signs that would suggest future physical problems, so we trusted him blindly. We never had doubts about his physical condition because we knew that, in case of problems, Marc would have told us.”
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