Luigi Dall’Igna reveals the two ’quality’ reasons why Ducati signed Marc Marquez over Jorge Martin

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Ducati were faced with a difficult decision during 2024 over the rider who would partner Francesco Bagnaia at the factory team for the following season.

Jorge Martin was on a title-winning trajectory at the time of Ducati’s announcement that Marquez would race in red for the following campaign, made even more impressive by his status as a rider for the satellite team, Pramac Racing.

However, Marquez was also showing all the right signs that he was on his way back to the best version of his former self.

Also a satellite rider for Gresini at the time, Marquez had proved that he was still competitive in the premier class by showing a good level of consistency atop a brand of bike that was completely different to the Honda machinery he had raced for the entirety of his MotoGP career.

READ MORE: Neil Hodgson thinks Jorge Martin will want to ‘get back on a Ducati’ if one thing happens at Aprilia

Ducati chief Luigi Dall’Igna explains the two reasons why they opted to sign Marc Marquez over Jorge Martin

Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi previously revealed that it was Luigi Dall’Igna who made the decision of Marquez over Martin, highlighting the headache that the verdict had given them during their discussions in meetings.

Speaking to Diario AS, the man himself went into more detail on the reasons behind their decision between the two satellite riders, which has ended up with them winning all three championships on offer in the 2025 season.

“There are basically two reasons,” Dall’Igna stated. “Because last year, before Mugello, he had already shown some really good things, also considering that the difference between the 2023 and 2024 bikes was certainly quite significant.

“Then, for me, what matters most in a rider is not only the quality of his riding, but also his motivation, determination, and the clarity he uses in the decisions he makes.

“And Marc, honestly, has shown that he really wanted to get back to being the Marc he was at the beginning of his career because to get here, he had to give up a lot of things, and this has shown me how much he wanted and was willing to do to get back to achieving his goal.”

Ducati’s choice has certainly paid off in the end, with Dall’Igna also going on to state that Marquez’s achievements in 2025 were ‘impossible’ to imagine at the time of signing him.

The Spaniard has won 11 Grands Prix and 14 Sprint races so far this season, and was on record-breaking pace for the number of wins in a single season prior to his unfortunate injury at the Grand Prix of Indonesia at the start of October.

READ MORE: Marc Marquez has shown Luigi Dall’Igna why Ducati have won so few MotoGP titles compared to Honda and Yamaha

Ducati made the right choice by signing Marc Marquez after his world-beating 2025 MotoGP season

After the 32-year-old clinched his seventh premier class title at the Japanese Grand Prix just weeks ago, it cemented Ducati’s decision to overlook Martin and secure the talents of his compatriot as the correct one.

Jorge Lorenzo now agrees with Ducati after initially finding it hard to judge Marquez’s ‘value’ whilst Martin looked superior to him on the factory spec bike during the 2024 campaign.

Marquez’s former teammate at the factory Honda team admitted that the 32-year-old has shown that he is on a completely different level to the man who claimed his maiden MotoGP title during the 2024 season, as well as everyone else on the grid, for that matter.

Marquez doubts that he would have challenged Martin if he had a factory bike during his debut season with the Italian constructor, highlighting the adjustment period he needed to get up to speed with the new calibre of machinery.

The Spaniard ended up finishing third in the standings, just over 100 points behind the tallies of Martin and Francesco Bagnaia ahead of him.