When it was expected that Jorge Martín would be chosen by Ducati for the factory MotoGP team in 2025, he was instead announced by Aprilia. This hinted at what was confirmed two days later – Marc Márquez had been selected by the Borgo Panigale constructor.
Randy Mamola, approached by GPOne.com to comment on this significant development in the rider market, highlighted the media impact associated with a rider like Márquez, beyond his demonstrated performance:
– It’s like having a book and having to tear out the pages to rewrite what will happen. For weeks we had mixed news, but I think there are still many people in the paddock who feel that Martín deserved the factory spot. However, it’s clear that an eight-time world champion attracts a lot of media attention, and he has shown he is capable of fighting. He and we know that the GP23 is close, but the GP24 still has a small advantage.
The former rider then said: ‘When the news came out, I think Martín thought, «Well, I’ll make a decision without waiting and go to Aprilia». Aprilia will welcome him, and as Massimo Rivola said, once the opportunity arose, they didn’t let it slip away. Jorge Martín is a special rider and is leading the championship. To put things into perspective, when you have an eight-time world champion who hasn’t achieved anything with Honda in the last two years, not to mention the operation… so what about next year? It’s going to be a bombshell, everyone knows that. This marketing operation will go down in history’.