Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali was burned for his infamous claim that he would not sign Marc Marquez.
Marquez was still tied to his Big Money Honda contract, but he was struggling with frequent crashes, but the Ducati boss was first asked about signing him.
“That’s not the right thing for us. We have an extraordinary group of riders that we raised,” Domenicali told Sky in June 2023.
A few weeks later, Marquez was signed up for the Gresini satellite team, and a year later Ducati allowed Jorge Martin and Marco Betzecchi to leave due to their desire to move the eight-time champions to the factory team.
Domenicali revisited his major U-turn.
“If we have the mark now, that’s because we made the carefully dealt with choices,” Domenicali told Gpone.
“We did that, and we also thought about the overall performance we could achieve.
“Last year, his performance was a great reference. We made observations and thought that was a good choice.”
Marc Marquez set to Cota Motogp
Mark Marquez
Marquez’s signature represents a major pivot that separates itself from Ducati’s philosophy.
Francesco Bagnaia was the first of their riders to bring the Ducati structure to win the MotoGP title in 2022.
Martin, Betzecchi and Enea Bastianini were other young and promising riders in their books – all remained at the same time that they chose Marquez for the factory team in 2025.
However, that decision was partially justified by Marquez’s sensational start to the season.
He won his first four races in two rounds, Thailand and Argentina.
This weekend he heads to one of his favorites in general: the American Grand Prix.
“I think Pecco started with two races that weren’t one of his favorites,” Domenicali said.
“He finished his winter practice with some issues that don’t depend on him, so we don’t see his true potential.
“We are sure we will see that starting with the upcoming races, but it may not be Austin, a circuit that is particularly suitable for the Mark.
“But I think we’ll see a different championship than Qatar.”