The 2024 MotoGP season has been dominated 🐲by Ducati this season, but the Italian manufacturer has also created intrigue with its satellite teams, including Gresini Racing with Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez.

Ducati introduced a new specification of aerodynamics on its Desmosedici GP23 at the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix for all its factory riders. But the aerodynamic package that the two Marquezes, and the VR46 duo of Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio, started the season on was that of the beginning of 2023, indicating that the GP23s♈ ridden in 2024 by Ducati’s satellite teams were of a specification from early in 2023, rather than from the final round in Valencia.

Ducati provided both Gresini and VR46 with the mid-2023 upgrade at this year’s Dutch TT at Assen, but only the VR46 team has stuck with the full update, while both Gresini riders now use the updated front wheel turning vanes with the older-♓spec downwash ducts.

While Marc Marquez w🌳ill move to the factory Ducati team in 2025, Alex Marquez will stay on year-old machinery with Gresini.

This means he will be on a version of the Desmosedici GP24, the bike which has won 14 of the 18 Grands Prix won so far this season, but whether he will get a GP24 in end-of-season speci☂fication, or something more similar to what the factory riders had at this year’s Qatar season opener, remains unconfirmed.

“I know what bike I will have but I will not tell you,” Marquez said when asked about his 2025 technical package ahead of this weekend’s 🅘Malaysian Grand Prix.

“It’s better that you ask 🌊Ducati. I know the bike that I♌ will have and I’m happy for that.

“I will try to en𒁏d the season in a good way, because when you have a good form and when you are extracting the 100 per cent from your bike and you get a package thatಌ looks like it’s a little bit better then it’s more positive.

“So, we’ll try our best for these last two ra⛦ces, and try to make another step forward for next year.”

Malaysia represent✱s an opportunity for Marquez, who won his first dry-weather MotoGP race — albeit a Sprint — at Sepang last year.

“We were quite fa♛st here last year, also in preseason,”𒅌 Marquez said.

“But, I think we need to be realistic: from where we are coming now, it’s a different situation compared to last year. But it’s🍌 a good track for me: I love the layout, I love to ride here, and I will try my best. Just this.

“I mean, I ꦕwill try to be really consistent, t🧔o not make mistakes. We know that it’s a track that a mistake costs a lot of time, so you need to be really precise.

“We know that it will be difficult to be like last year, trying🔯 to fight for the win, but at least to try to be in the top-fi🦹ve, closer to the podium is what we will try to do.”

Third or fourth a “super success” for Marc Marquez in Malaysia

While Alex Marquez’s memories in Mala💖ysia have generally been good, Marc Marquez has had a trickier time in Sepang compared to i🅰n other circuits.

A winner twice in the premier class at Malaysia, Marquez 𝕴hasn’t 🐽been on the podium there since he was second to Maverick Vinales in 2019.

This time, though, he will be racing at the Sepang International Circuit for the first time on a Duᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚcati, which theoretically pౠresents more opportunities.

“Of course, historically it [Sepang] has been one of the more difficult tracks [for me],” Marquez sဣaid. 

"After the experience with Ducati during one year, iᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚt will be difficult but we w♒ill try to understand on Friday where we are.

“But, for example if in Thailand we were in dry conditions we were there on that third or fourth place. Here, if we can equal the same level it will be a s♛uper-success, because theoretically it needs to be the same or a little bit worse.”