Marc Márquez is currently one of Gresini’s riders in MotoGP, but his contract expires at the end of 2024. And, if he can consistently fight for top positions as it seems to be the case at the beginning of this season, it is unlikely that he will accept to continue in a satellite team. And if KTM – or rather, MV Agusta – is his next step?
Recently, the Pierer Mobility Group acquired a majority stake of 50.1 percent in MV Agusta – which it already partially owned. Absent from the World Championships since 1976, the Italian manufacturer remains legendary, but has been facing financial difficulties for several years.
How could the return to MotoGP be realized? By one of two ways. One would be the simplest and quickest – KTM having a second satellite team (it is believed to be in talks with VR46 in this regard) using the KTM RC16 despite having a different identity, like Red Bull GasGas Tech3. Another would be to wait for 2027 and the new regulations having a separate project – a possibility that Stefan Pierer left open at the end of last year.
With Márquez being a rider on the market, KTM – or, rather, the Pierer Mobility Group – may try to secure his services in 2025, projecting a potential future partnership with MV Agusta. And this possibility was already speculated by Ricard Jové on DAZN in 2023: ‘Do you know what KTM’s dream is? Do you know what marketing exercise KTM really wants to do in the future? To have Marc Márquez on an MV Agusta‘.
For now, this is not possible, as MV Agusta is not present. Of the possibilities described earlier, there could even be a mix of both. Starting as a satellite team in fact in 2025 with or without Márquez – contractual cycles are usually two years, so he could very well sign with another manufacturer or team… and be available to join a potential MV Agusta project in 2027 with a bike homologated separately from the KTM RC16.
