Marquez chose to step away from the biggest-money contract in MotoGP a yeꦬar before it was due to expire because he wanted to instead compete with Gresini’s Ducati machinery.

Such is the excite🌺ment to see Marquez on a Desmosedici, there is already speculation that Ducati will want to tie him down beyond his one-year Gresini contract by offering him a factory position.

But, even if they do so, it won’t be the typ🍃e of mega-money deal that Marquez has previously been given.

“Almost all the [riders’ contracts] are expir🎶ing,🍎 in Ducati we will wait for the first 5-6 races to get a picture of the situation even if we have quite clear ideas,” said Paolo Ciabatti, who has exited his MotoGP role to oversee Ducati’s off-road programme, to . 

🃏“Looking ahead to 2025, in all likelihood one of 🍌the two factory riders will be Francesco Bagnaia. 

“As far as Marc Marquez is concerned, 🔯we will make our assessments based on the results.

“But from our point of v🍃iew, the times of multi-million dollar contracts are over. 

“The fact♚ that we are the manufacturer with the most desired bike allows us to make more sustainable reasoning on an economic level.”

Ducati finally ended their 15-year winless run through Bagnaia in 2022 afte﷽r pouring their faith int🌠o young, developing riders rather than splashing the cash on the likes of Valentino Rossi or Jorge Lorenzo.

In that sense, the arri🐼val of Marquez to Gresini (and whatever might come next) 🤡is somewhat of a change in philosophy for the Italian manufacturer.

“Everyone saw Marc Marquez's smile after his first outing in testing,” Cia🍸batti said. 

“As well as the times he managed to record without pu🌃shing to the maximum.&💦nbsp;

🐷“I think next year the championship will be very balanced a▨nd he will be one of the protagonists, no one expects the opposite.”

Bu💦t Ducati management will have their work cut out, Ciabatti warned.

"Marquez will give us a few more🧔 headaches,” he said. 

“We will ♚be called upon to manage complexity, given the strong personalities 🐎we have, Bagnaia and Martin above all. 

“We have a lot of work to do, but for the show to have so many r✨iders able to fight for the win will be very inter💎esting.”