Frankie Carchedi sends five-word message to Fermin Aldeguer after racing Marc Marquez at the Austrian Grand Prix

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Fermin Aldeguer was the talk of the paddock at the Austrian Grand Prix as he finished an incredible second at the Red Bull Ring.

The Gresini rider put his GP24 on the second row of the grid in qualifying, lining up P6. But the Spaniard could not take advantage in the Sprint race as he encountered wheel spin with the rear tyre.

He suffered the same issue as Francesco Bagnaia as they slid into the path of oncoming traffic. However, unlike the factory Ducati rider, Aldeguer kept himself in the midfield as he climbed back up to sixth.

At the Austrian Grand Prix, the 20-year-old showed incredible speed in the closing stages of the race. Aldeguer pulled off audacious and aggressive moves on Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi to put himself in touching distance of challenging Marc Marquez.

Frankie Carchedi reacts to Fermin Aldeguer’s sensational Austrian Grand Prix

At one point, the Gresini rider was running a second quicker than Marquez and Bezzecchi when he overtook the latter for P2 at turn four. He began to close the gap to the championship leader, setting times that were half a second quicker.

Marquez put Aldeguer in a ‘very difficult’ situation as he burnt a hole in his boot while fighting to catch the 32-year-old. Ultimately, his commendable efforts were not enough as he finished behind the factory Ducati by just over a second.

One of the happiest people in the paddock at Spielberg would have undoubtedly been Frankie Carchedi. The Brit, who is serving as Aldeguer’s crew chief, worked with Marquez last season while he was at Gresini.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter) after the race, Carchedi reacted to Aldeguer and Marquez shaking hands in parc ferme: “Oh yeah,” he wrote, followed by five fire emojis, before finishing with: “What a race!!!!!”

READ MORE: Everything to know about Fermin Aldeguer with his rise to MotoGP and height

Fermin Aldeguer shows Ducati his incredible talent amid factory bike rumours

Luigi Dall’Igna had low expectations for Aldeguer in 2025, telling him to view this season more like a learning year after his promotion from Moto2. However, he is certainly exceeding them as his best result in MotoGP thus far takes him to eighth in the standings.

Ducati view him as a talent for the future, with rumours swirling as to when he will be given a chance at the factory outfit. Giacomo Agostini has told Ducati to sign Aldeguer if Bagnaia decides to leave the team amid his struggles in 2025.

Ducati are keen to ‘pamper’ Aldeguer as they see him as the future face of the Borgo Panigale outfit. Rumours have linked the Spaniard to VR46, but Valentino Rossi is not interested in Aldeguer as Franco Morbidelli is set to sign an extension.

Dorna are backing Ducati to give Aldeguer a factory bike, but CEO Claudio Domenicali has yet to make a decision. The 20-year-old has a works contract, which could see him get the factory bike before teammate Alex Marquez.