D💙ucati’s concern about “risk” led to their link-up with Marc Marquez, it 🦩has been suggested.

Marquez swapped Honda for Gresini Ducati a year ago and excelled in 2024 on a year-old machine, mounting a title challenge which only fell away in the final rouཧnds.

But he did enough to earn a call-up to the official Duꦏcati team this year, giving him th✃e best machinery on the grid.

The casualty of the manufacturer's decision wa🌃s Jorge Martin,♔ who won the MotoGP title on a Ducati but has now joined Aprilia.

“I wasn't surprised,” Wayne🦄 Gardner told about the decision to pick Mar🎃quez instead of Martin.

“To be honest, if it had be🍒en me, I probably w🌞ould have stayed with Jorge.

“But hey, Marc is a very ta💮lented ride🙈r, there is no doubt. They are both Spanish riders, right?

“I think what Ducati 🌸did wa🍃s remove Marquez from the competition.

“It is better to have him working with t✃hem than 🧔against them.

“They know how good Marc is. He seems to have improved a lot since he joined ✅Ducati.

“Ducati obviously has the best 🦋bike on the grid, and it hasꦚ been that way for many years.

“And Marc has b🌸een coping with the Honda, that's why he had so many crashes.

“He still has quite 🥃a few crashes, but now it has a little more consistency, and I guess that's becaus🌠e the bike is much better.

“But from Ducat꧒i's point of view, they cannot risk having Marquez on a rival team.

“It is better to put him on their team, and then they know that they are going to win𓃲 with Pecco or with Marquez next year.

“So they had to make 🎃a decision, and that♏'s how it happened.

“And now M🌳artin is going to Aprilia; I think it’s going to b🐓e incredible with that bike.

“I think that will make the champio💖nship even more interesting, to be honest.”

Marquez put Ducati in a difficult posi♋tion when, last summer, they were considering their 2025 line-up.

༺He made it clear that Pramac, even on a factory-spec b꧟ike, was not an option.

It c﷽aused Ducati to U-turn from their original plan to reward Martin.

Martin signed for Aprilia as a reꦰsult, then co🍸mpleted a dream season to end as MotoGP champion.

He could now run the #1 on an Aprilia in 2025.