For the first time in his career, Marc Márquez will ride a motorcycle other than a Honda in MotoGP – he joins Gresini aboard a Ducati in 2024. After several years of dominance, the last few seasons have been challenging, not only for the Japanese manufacturer but also for the rider himself, with the performances and results way below the expectations.

In the team change he will make next year, Casey Stoner believes that #93 may finally see the reason behind all the troubless. The former rider told Crash.net:

– Honda have been struggling for a couple of years. It’s easy to sit on the outside and say «the team haven’t been doing a good job». But it’s not actually the team. It goes way further above than that. We’re not sure how much effort they’re putting into the racing. I know there were a few position changes in Japan and it seems to be affecting the team. The two Japanese manufacturers seem to be a step or two behind. […]. It’s puzzling that the Japanese manufacturers are equally behind the Europeans. Marc is going to give himself a shot to understand whether it’s him or the bike.

O conteúdo ‘Marc Márquez is going to give himself a shot to understand whether it’s him or the bike’ – Casey Stoner aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After two years, Fabio Di Giannantonio will be leaving the Gresini team at the end of this MotoGP season. His spot will be taken by Marc Márquez, and even though he is sad about the outcome, he recognizes that Márquez is no ordinary rider.

In an interview with TNT Sports, the Italian rider stated that he was very sad because he had truly put his all into the team. He said: ‘It’s a little sad for me because I really wanted to reach the main goal with this team. But on the other hand, it’s Marc Márquez. We are professionals, and it can happen, it’s normal because it’s Márquez’.

However, Di Giannantonio also expressed some dissatisfaction with how the Gresini team managed the situation: ‘I also didn’t like how the team handled the situation, honestly. They could have had more trust in me and Franky and our work. They could have waited a bit longer. Marc is coming; he’s the best, an eight-time champion, so it’s fine, it is what it is’.

O conteúdo Fabio Di Giannantonio replaced by Marc Márquez: ‘I didn’like how the team handled the situation’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After finishing fourth in Indonesia, Fabio Di Giannantonio didn’t have to wait long for his first podium in MotoGP. The Gresini rider is in excellent form and secured third place in the main race at the Australian GP this Saturday.

The Gresini rider spoke about a race in which he had fun, aiming to manage the tires optimally: ‘Well, it was a long race for sure. We weren’t ready to do this long distance on Saturday, but it was a pure, fun race. I started so well and I was fast on the beginning. I was trying to manage the rear tyre, but I was also trying to push a little bit to try to not lose too much ground in the first laps. And then I catch Brad, I overtook him, but it was not possible, also because there as a bit of wind and when you are in the front it’s more difficult to push’.

Di Giannantonio, pleased with his performance, also praised the final lap with the uncertainty in the battle for the win: ‘I think it was a great performance, we’ve been fast through all the weekend and also we’ve been constant through all the race apart of the last seven laps, that was a big job from everybody for the tyre. The last lap seemed a little bit a Moto3 race, back in the days with a lot of riders fighting for something important. There were a lot of overtakes and there was a little bit the possiiblity to win. It was pure fun’.

O conteúdo Fabio Di Giannantonio achieved his first podium: ‘It was a pure, fun race’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Fabio Di Giannantonio keeps a good momentum in MotoGP, achieving his first podium in the premier class this Saturday. He finished third at the Australian GP after fighting for the podium with some of the strongest riders in the field until the last lap.

The result at Phillip Island is a source of pride and satisfaction for the Gresini Italian rider, who admitted in the flash interview with the official broadcast that the outcome was unexpected:

– I still have to recover from it! I gave my 200%. I was thinking that could be a good race because the pace was great all the weekend, but honestly I didn’t expect this performance. The start was incredible – maybe the best start of my life. And then I was there, I was trying to control the rear but it wasn’t easy. But then, wow, what a last lap, battlling with the best in the game is something incredible, so I’m super proud.

O conteúdo ‘Wow, battling with the best is something incredible, I’m super proud’ – Fabio Di Giannantonio aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Next year, in his switch to Gresini, Marc Márquez will team up with his brother Álex, who has been with the Italian team since the beginning of this season, getting to know the team’s structure and the Ducati bike.

When asked in a press conference about what his younger brother told him about the bike and the team, #93 explained that there isn’t much that the current Gresini rider can tell him: ‘Of course my brother can give some inputs, but not a lot, because in the end it’s my responsability, it’s not his responsability. And in the end what I evaluate a bit is… of course we speak more about the team, that is a very nice team, friendly team. But not about the bike because every rider has a different riding style’.

In this new chapter of his career, Márquez feels that his challenge will be trying to be closer to the current top riders, analyzing the performance of the bike and the team: ‘These two riders [Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín] are younger than me and faster right now. So, my challenge is try to be closer to them. To be at the same level imediatly will be difficult, but step by step, try to work. What I try to analyse is the performance of the bike on race track, but then also the team. And especially the situation I have right now. Because inside my body, inside my head, I’m the only one to know what I need’.

O conteúdo ‘My brother can give some inputs, but not a lot; it isn’t his responsability’ – Marc Márquez aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Fabio Di Giannantonio has been through tough times with all the talk about his future in MotoGP. The Gresini rider knows he won’t be in the 2024 grid, but after many doubts about his abilities, he achieved fourth place in the Indonesian GP yesterday.

The Italian didn’t hide the fact that he went through very challenging moments with all the talk about his future but emphasized that he always tried to stay strong and focused on his work:

– I’m human, like everybody in the world, so I have emotions, I have feelings. So for sure has been tough. Because I know this is just a sport, but it’s my life. They doubt about me, in my job, but in my life… it has been one of toughest things in my life. But as a human we are able to be strong and I think I’ve been strong, with moments down for sure. And I wanted and I forced me to be strong, to work, work, work, being focused.

O conteúdo Fabio Di Giannantonio and the rumours about his future: ‘I wanted and I forced me to be strong’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

When he already knows he will not continue in the MotoGP in 2024, Fabio Di Giannantonio got his best career result so far. This Sunday, the rider from Gresini crossed the finish line of the Indonesian GP in fourth place.

Asked about his feelings after the race, the Italian confessed he was very emotional after a result that is a proof that something is working after all his efforts:

– It was like a little moment for me, even if I was annoyed in front of all the people in the world because of the cameras. But it was a little moment for me, because I’m putting so much hard work, honestly, I’m working a lot in many, many areas, in many, many things. And even if almost all the world doubted about me and went almost against me, I never gave up. I always worked, I was always focused on myself, on being better and faster. Today is not a win, is not a podium, but it’s a great result that gives you a little sweet. It means something is working good. It was a good moment.

O conteúdo Fabio DiGiannantonio emotional with fourth place: ‘Even if almost all the world doubted about me, I never gave up’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marc Márquez will represent Gresini Racing in the next MotoGP World Championship season, and he will have the opportunity to ride a Ducati. Jorge Lorenzo believes that his former teammate will once again stand out in 2024.

The former rider told DAZN that the current situation for #93 was unsustainable: ‘He couldn’t bear another year like this; he was so burned out, so to say, with the situation, with having to risk it every weekend, those crashes, that bad feeling, that he preferred to leave Honda. It would have been nice to at least finish this contract with a factory that always supported him, but it couldn’t be’.

Regarding 2024, Lorenzo believes that Márquez will be the best rider with the best bike: ‘We will see a very exciting championship next year, with a super rider, who, in my opinion, is still the best, with the best bike’.

O conteúdo Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Márquez’s move to Gresini: ‘We will see the best rider with the best bike’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marc Márquez’s future in MotoGP is already confirmed, but speculation continues. Now, the focus is on the contractual terms that link him to Gresini.

Sources in the paddock told Motorcycle Sports that the Spanish rider has an agreement to have a factory bike at Gresini, with a contract for only one year. His connection to Honda would not end entirely.

The same rumors say that the Japanese manufacturer will continue to pay Márquez for merchandising and image rights – in a kind of arrangement where Honda could, in a way, have a plan to «spy» on the Ducati bike, which is considered the strongest in the current field.

Naturally, this speculation should be taken with a pinch of salt. Ducati has already stated that they can only have four factory bikes – those of the official team and Prima Pramac.

However, it is also true that Márquez brings attention and potential significant sponsorship money, which could make a fifth Desmosedici GP for 2024 a possibility.

O conteúdo Factory Ducati bike for Marc Márquez… and image rights paid by Honda? aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Gresini Racing has won a world champion for 2024 with the now official confirmation of Marc Marquez. But the #93 won’t go alone, and although he won’t take with him his most loyal teammate at HRC, Santi Hernandez, he will have Frankie Carchedi as the biggest figure in his box for the next year.

In a debrief after Friday’s last session, Marc Marquez explained why he didn’t take Santi Hernandez with him, showing confidence in Frankie Carchedi’s work:

– Yes, as you know Gresini confirmed that next year I’m going to work with them and with Frankie (Carchedi), it’s going to be weird for me, but I already knew when I signed with them, because I’ve been working with Santi for 13 years in a row, so it’s going to be weird, but yes, I accept the situation and as I know he’s a precise guy (Frankie Carchedi), obviously I’m not going there with my eyes closed, I’ve informed myself and I know he’s accurate, he works well, he has good routines and he was world champion with Joan Mir, so I hope to have a good relationship with him from the beginning and start working and finding the rhythm on the track.

Marquez then explained who will go with him, and why he chose to take only one engineer, leaving the future open:

– Javi Ortiz, that’s who it’s going to be. (…) For the reason I explained yesterday. It’s a very late decision and I don’t want to break Repsol Honda. And I don’t want to destroy Gresini either. They have their family, and it’s only a one-year contract, for the future we’ll see.

O conteúdo ‘I don’t want to break Repsol Honda’ – Marc Marquez aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.