Ducati’s decision to choose Marc Márquez over Jorge Martín for the 2025 MotoGP season has sparked considerable discussion. The younger Spaniard has long dreamed of a spot in the factory team and is currently leading the championship after finishing as vice-champion in 2023.
With the expectation of joining Ducati, Martín stayed with the satellite team Prima Pramac Racing for this season. However, he saw his dream slip away once again and is now set to join Aprilia. Mattia Pasini criticized the Borgo Panigale manufacturer, telling Moto.it that Ducati disrespected Martín after the rider put his trust in them:
– It’s always difficult to evaluate the work and choices of others. So, if they made this decision, they had their reasons; surely Márquez is a very fast rider. But it seems to me a great lack of respect towards Martín, who two years ago should have taken [Enea] Bastianini’s place in the Ducati factory team, and with Bastianini’s wonderful season, he lost it. He stayed with Pramac precisely because he believed in Ducati and thought he could make it to the factory team.
Pasini doesn’t know what more Martín could have done to earn a place in the Ducati factory team but acknowledged Márquez’s high caliber as a rider: ‘Last year he fought for the World Championship until the last race, this year he leads the World Championship with 20 more points than the world champion, [Francesco] Bagnaia. And he has won six races, if I’m not mistaken, between Sprints and long races. So, I don’t know what more he could have done to deserve the factory bike, but they gave it to Márquez, who is a rider that needs no introduction with what he has done and won – he’s a phenomenon’.