The six-time premier class champion cut his big-money, four-year contract with Honda short in order to ride in 2024 for what is essentially the fourth-string Ducati team.
Even as he departed, there was speculation that Marquez and Honda might merely be taking a break rather than a permanent divorce.
That was fuelled by comments from the man himself, who commented in the wake of the decision, “It’s not a ‘bye-bye’, it’s a ‘see you later’. I wish to cross our futures in the next years.”
The KTM group has also been linked to Marquez, including the possibility of bringing another team into the fold and branding it as MV Agusta or Husqvarna.
However, it is Ducati which is presently the benchmark manufacturer in MotoGP, while Honda has been the Spaniard’s home until now.
On a possibility of a secret deal with the latter, Pramac Racing Team Principal Paolo Campinoti switched focus back to the marque with which his operation is aligned.
“On the other hand, I see Marquez more in the official Ducati,” Campinoti replied to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I don’t think he would have made a move like this if he hadn’t received guarantees, even if I don’t know what they might be.
“But doing a year like this in a satellite team with the previous year’s bike, just to do that, leaves me perplexed.”
In only signing a one-year deal with Gresini, Marquez is coming off-contract at the same time as the Ducati Team’s Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, along with most of the rest of the grid.
Campinoti’s comments are curious, though, considering Marquez is signed to Gresini rather than Ducati itself, which was reluctant to engage the superstar.
Its General Manager, Gigi Dall’Igna, even told media before the Valencia post-season test, “Ducati’s position was surely that they did not want Marquez.”
Marc Marquez and brother/team-mate Alex have ridden a Ducati in the last 24 hours, specifically a Panigale V4S at Portimao, along with the factory team duo, Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli, and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Repsol Honda’s Luca Marini was also in action on a Honda Fireblade and even Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha R1.
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