Jorge Martín claimed the MotoGP World Championship title this year but missed out on the factory Ducati team seat he coveted. Despite being a strong contender for the title for two consecutive seasons, Ducati announced Marc Márquez for the 2025 and 2026 campaigns.
Speaking to Motosan.es, Wayne Gardner expressed that he wasn’t surprised by the decision, viewing it as Ducati’s strategy to keep Márquez from joining a rival team:
– It didn’t surprise me. To be honest, if it were me, I probably would have kept Jorge. But, well, Marc is an incredibly talented rider, no doubt about it. They are both Spanish riders, right? I think what Ducati did was take Márquez away from the competition. It’s better to have him working with them than against them. They know how good Marc is. It seems he has improved significantly since joining the Ducati bike.
Gardner also believes Márquez has become more consistent with Ducati: ‘It’s clear that Ducati has the best bike on the grid and has had for many years. Marc was pushing the Honda beyond its limits, which is why he had so many crashes. He still has quite a few crashes, but now he is a bit more consistent, and I suppose that’s because the bike is much better. From Ducati’s perspective, they couldn’t risk having Márquez on a rival team’.