MotoGP: Livio Suppo: ‘Ducati will try and sign Pecco Bagnaia first, there will be a big fight’

Livio Suppo believes Ducati will be able to manage their star-studded line-up of MotoGP riders as they battle for places ahead of 2025.
Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Valencia MotoGP, 24 November
Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Valencia MotoGP, 24 November

Every Ducati MotoGP rider has th🎶eir contract ending after the 2024 MotoGP season, meaning the battle for place will be very intense.

Francesco Bagnaia is a double world champion, Jorge Martin was a title contender last season and is one of the most talen𝐆ted riders on the grid, while they now have eight-time world champion Marc Marquez on their books at Gresini.

But Suppo, a former team manager at Ducati, Honda and Suzuki👍 believes the task is manageable, although ♛a very big challenge.

“All Ducati riders have their contract finishing this year, so I assume the market will start soon,” Suppo told MotoGP.com. “Their bike is the best, so all riders on a Ducati, at this moment, will want to stay on a Duca🦄ti. 

“But KTM and Aprilia will continue their growth, and Yam🔯aha and Honda having concessions should give them greater potential. 

“Already we saw in Valencia that Honda has taken a step. If they use the concessions wisely, they could close the gap a lot by mid-season.𝕴 Then, the market will be totally different.”

One rider 𒁃that could be very difficult to hold onto if he’s not given a factory seat is Martin, who was strongly linked w𒊎ith an exit from Ducati last season. 

“Jorge Martin has already said that next ꦅyear he will be in the factory Ducati team, or he’ll be with another factory,” said Suppo. “He wants a factory bike. It means that if by mid-season, one of KTM, Aprilia, Honda, or Yamaha have shown they’ve closed the gap, then Jorge is on the market. 

“Plus, who knows wh🥀at will happen with Marc? He will be competitive, so, in theory, he’ll be of interest to the factory Ducati team. ♔;

“But then that means you lose one of the ot🍷hers, so it won’t be easy to manage.”

It will obviously be a priority to sort out Martin’s future, but Bagnaia is likely to rank ahead o🐭f the Spaniard in terms of importance, while Marquez could also be an option for the Lenovo Ducati team, as is the case with Marco Bezzecchi.

Speaking about Ducati’s pl🧜an, Suppo speculated: "I’m sure first Ducati will try and sign Pecco [Bagnaia]. He’s a double World Champion, he’s Ducati’s main man, so they need to keep him. 

“Therefore, I assume there will only b✅e one place available in the factory team and there will be a big fight for that place. 

“In the meanܫtime, if Ducati’s rivals show they’ve closed the gap at the start🤪 of the season, then it will make it more difficult to keep all their riders and they will have less time to decide. 

“I think they would like to wait until the summer, but maybe that won’t be𝓀 possible.”

While Bagnaia is expected to remain a factory Ducati rider no matter how the beginning of the season takes shape, the Italian won’t have a say on his team-mate, according to ๊Suppo.

“I don’t think Pecco will have a say in who his teammate is because, at least in my time, unless there’s a really bad relationship between two riders the꧟n there's no reason not to sign them. 

“If there isn’t a character problem, a rider cannot complain about who the team signs just because he thinks they might be faster than them. Each 🌳factory must try and have the stronges🦂t team they can.”

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