2024 MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin has concluded that Ducati is “regretting” the decision not to sign him for the 2025 season.
Ducati opted to sign Marc Marquez from 2025 despite initially favouring Martin to accompany two-time MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia in Bologna.
When interviewed on a Spanish television programme, the Spaniard revealed how he felt at the time of the announcement.
“When all this was decided I wasn’t a champion.
“It’s difficult to know these things. But it’s clear that right now they’re probably regretting it.
“But you have to ask them that. In the end, I look out for myself. Life takes you to places you don’t expect.”
When news about Martin’s future in the premier class broke out, the Spaniard and Pramac expected inferior support from Ducati for the remainder of the season.
By that point in the season, Ducati forged a 39-point lead in the standings, and there was a potential chance of the #1 plate going to Ducati’s biggest rivals.
However, Ducati delivered its promise to its satellite team for the remainder of the season and kept things as fair as possible – a decision Martin admitted he was grateful for.
“My equipment was the same as Pecco’s, I can’t deny that,” he said.
“But the treatment at the factory is completely different. When you are an official rider, you have everyone working for you, trying to make you the winner.
“I feel like there were 12 people on my team against two or three hundred. That made it more difficult.
“For sure I was scared, Paolo [Campinotti] was scared, everyone was scared, the media was scared,” he added.
“Everybody was thinking they would do something to make me lose this championship.
“But I thank Ducati for not doing anything against us.
“Nobody expected it, everyone expected something strange to happen in the last few races. But they have been very noble and that is admirable.”
Jorge Martin: Ducati’s handling of 2025 line-up “wasn’t really good”
The 26-year-old wasn’t impressed with how Ducati treated him when it was considering its rider line-up for the 2025 season.
However, he admitted that “there was no sense” in creating animosity over the decision Ducati made and sought to find a rude for the next season.
In an interview with MotoGP.com after winning the championship, he stated: “I think after what happened, we spoke because I had to tell them quite a few things.
“How they managed it wasn’t really good. There was no sense to start a fight because I will start a fight with the bike that I have, so it made no sense.
“The relationship with Gigi [Dall’Igna] and the technical staff was the same.
“Also with [Claudio] Domenicalli, we spoke in Sachsenring and I think we were quite clear, I was quite clear with them and they know what I think.
“The first thing I said was ‘Ok, now I can make history as the first independent rider to win a MotoGP championship’. So, I made history and I will be remembered for that.”
