Jorge Martín has been left with honey on his lips and will not wear red in 2023. The Madrid rider, at the beginning of the course a great favorite to join the official Ducati team, has lost his particular battle with Enea Bastianini, finally the one chosen by the Borgo Panigale brand after a meeting of their heavyweights this Friday.
The 24-year-old from Rimini, who this season has won three Grand Prix to boost his winning bid, signs a two-year contract and will form an all-Italian team together with Pecco Bagnaia, the current benchmark of the factory.
“It has not been an easy decision because both Enea and Jorge are two very fast young drivers.
That is why we have assured both of them the same material and the same technical support.
We are sure that both will be able to demonstrate their great talent on the track”, valued Gigi Dall'Igna, general manager of Ducati Corse, regarding the final decision.
Using the same bike and having the same resources is the consolation that remains for the Spaniard, who had repeatedly vindicated his merits in recent weeks.
“Surely not wearing red next year would let me down a bit.
I think it's a step that touches me and that I have to do, but if it doesn't happen, we'll have to do our best with the same material”, he explained at the British GP.
Despite good intentions,
BREAKING NEWS!
🚨 Welcome, @bestia23!
The Italian rider to join forces with the #DucatiLenovoTeam alongside @PeccoBagnaia starting next season!
#ForzaDucati pic.twitter.com/ytazKn83mv
– Ducati Corse (@ducatirse) August 26, 2022
The parallel trajectories and similar track records of the two talents had made the decision very difficult for those in charge.
Both world champions –Martín of Moto3 in 2018 and Bastianini of Moto2 in 2020– and winners in the premier class, it was the dominant victories of Bestia in Qatar, the United States and France that finally tipped the scales.
The great protagonist of the announcement did not hold back when assessing his jump to the factory team: “It was my dream and now it has come true.
In these two years in MotoGP I have learned and grown a lot and I believe that alongside the engineers and members of the Ducati Lenovo Team I can only improve.
I want to thank Claudio, Gigi, Paolo and Davide for the trust and the incredible opportunity they give me”.
The Ducati is the most complete and competitive bike on the current grid, a benchmark even for Marc Márquez.
The eighth world champion pointed out a few days ago to the Italians as the team to follow for the rest, a message that he personally conveyed to the leaders of Honda.
With four teams and eight bikes, in races like the last one at the Austrian GP, the Italian squad has been able to place up to four of its riders in the top five places.
Martín, a member of the brand's second link, will continue with Prima Pramac Racing, where he achieved his only victory in the category during his debut season in 2021. This course has not been his, as physical problems have weighed him down and They have ended up getting him out of the fight for the red motorcycle that he wanted.
Two second places have been his harvest so far,
Although he was the favorite at the beginning of the year, the classification and the number of victories in each one's locker made it clear that Bastianini had slipped into the Italians' plans for good.
Martín must now prove to his bosses that perhaps they have been wrong.
Like this year, in 2023 the Frenchman Johann Zarco will accompany him in the box, also confirmed this Friday.
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