Marc Marquez has confirmed which specification of Ducati motorcycle he will ride when he moves to Gresini Racing for the 2024 MotoGP season.
As expected, the six-time premier class champion will saddle up on a GP23-spec Desmosedici, which the factory Ducati Team and Pramac Racing are fielding this year.
As such, Marquez will be riding the bike of the likely championship-winning rider, with Francesco Bagnaia holding an 18-point lead over Pramac’s Jorge Martin ahead of the final five rounds of the campaign.
“Next year will be interesting,” said the Repsol Honda incumbent.
“In the end, I will have the bike that is going to win this year’s championship.
“I am going to have the 2023 bike, but I don’t know how the evolution of it will be.”
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A year-old Desmosedici is unlikely, however, to be found particularly wanting, based on recent history.
Third in the riders’ championship at present is Marco Bezzecchi on a GP22, the model which Bagnaia took to last year’s title.
Furthermore, it is Bezzecchi’s VR46 Racing Team, out of which Luca Marini also pilots a GP22, which is currently second in the teams’ standings, 63 points behind Pramac and 35 ahead of the factory team.
The ‘official’ Ducati squad has suffered in that title race due to two injury-induced spells on the sideline for Enea Bastianini, but the brand has already wrapped up the constructors’ championship title for 2023.
Bastianini’s experience is nevertheless another reason for Marquez to feel confident about being a contender for at least race wins in 2024.
The Italian was a Gresini rider himself just last year, when he finished third in the championship and picked up four grand prix victories along the way while riding a GP21, an effort which saw him by-pass Pramac and onto a red bike in 2023.
Next year, Marc Marquez will share the Gresini garage with brother Alex, as they did at the factory Honda team in 2020.
Marc Marquez will be without the Crew Chief he has had for his entire premier class career to date, however, with Santi Hernandez staying with HRC.
The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix takes place this weekend, with Free Practice 1 for the MotoGP field starting tomorrow at 10:45 local time/AEDT.
