Marco Melandri delved into the question of who will occupy the place next to Francesco Bagnaia in the next MotoGP season. The former Italian rider talked about Marc Márquez and Jorge Martín.
Melandri also involved KTM as a possible alternative for Marc Márquez in case the Spanish rider does not secure a factory seat, according to motosan.es.
– KTM spends twice as much as the others on developing their bike. Sooner or later, the results will have to show and that’s where there is more margin. In my opinion, Marquez wouldn’t have any problem changing bikes again, but we’ll see. If I were Marquez and had to choose between the KTM factory team and a factory bike in a satellite team of Ducati, I wouldn’t think for a second about going to KTM. Although for the show it would be good to have Martin on Aprilia and Marquez on KTM, that way things would be a bit more balanced. But I have the feeling that Ducati has already made a decision and everyone in Borgo Panigale already knows what will happen.
He also added about the possibility of Prima Pramac Racing abandoning Ducati bikes: ‘But do we really think that Pramac would leave this Ducati for this Yamaha? The sponsors, if you do something like this, say “I won’t give you the money.” At the moment, the one step behind Martin and Marquez is Bastianini, so the Pramac Ducati could be for him, but it is also true that in Aprilia I think that Aleix Espargaró’s retirement is already written.’
