Stoner warns Jorge Martin, ‘I’m aware of what Ducati will do to win MotoGP.’
Casey Stoner has expressed his surprise at Ducati’s approach this season to the MotoGP championship. He is particularly surprised by the apparent freedom that Ducati has given their riders to compete. Stoner, who has a history of Ducati controlling the outcome of the title race with a tight grip, finds it strange that the Italian manufacturer allowed Jorge Martin of Pramac Racing to challenge for the championship in such a dominant way.
Martin is in a good position to win the title as the season approaches its final race, the Barcelona Grand Prix. He has a 24-point lead over Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia. Stoner, however, warns that Ducati as one of the most ambitious and competitive teams in the sport will not let their highly prized number 1 plate slip from them. Stoner, who is the rider for the Italian manufacturer’s MotoGP team, is wary of the possibility that a rival brand could take their title.
There have been persistent rumours in the paddock that Ducati wouldn’t allow a rider for an independent team, such as Martin who rides for Pramac Racing, a satellite team, to win the title. Many paddock insiders thought that despite Martin’s early dominance in the standings and his strong performance, Ducati would use its resources and power to ensure one of their factory riders, Bagnaia (at the moment) or Jack Miller, would win the championship. It was almost assumed that Ducati wouldn’t let a non-factory rider win, especially as the year progressed.
Martin’s two-year Aprilia contract for 2024-2025 in May was seen by many as a step away from Ducati, and a sign that his future lay elsewhere. This decision at the time fueled suspicions about Ducati not allowing a rival, especially one like Aprilia to benefit from a championship win. Aprilia has been making significant progress in MotoGP over the past few years and has stated that obtaining the number one plate for their RS GP bike in 2025 was a major objective. Aprilia would be able to take advantage of the number 1 plate if Martin wins the title, particularly in his last season with Ducati. This would give them a major marketing and psychological edge heading into 2025.
Ducati, however, has maintained that they will be fair this year. Team manager Davide Tardozzi stated as recently as the Malaysian Grand Prix that Enea Bastianini would not be required to support Bagnaia in his title bid.
Stoner, the former MotoGP champion, isn’t convinced by Ducati’s public position on this issue, as he witnessed the internal politics at the Borgo Panigale brand in 2007-10.
“I believe Jorge deserves the title and is in a good position to win it,” said the Australian to Gazzetta dello Sport. “Pecco is going to do his best to win and Ducati wants to retain the number one.” “I hope] that everything will go smoothly. There could be chaos.”
He said, “I share the same opinion.” When he was told that some Ducati employees may not want Martin to be victorious, he replied: “I am of the same opinion.” I know Ducati and what they will do to win. “I’m surprised that I hadn’t seen it before. Or maybe it happened, and Jorge got better at it.”
Stoner said that Gigi dall’Igna (the architect of GP24), who wants to make sure Martin gets the same chance to face two-time champion Bagnaia as the other members of the hierarchy, may have a different view.
“Gigi believes that.” “But then there are [Ducati bosses] who don’t wish to lose their number one,” said he.
“But they are being watched very closely by everyone.” They will be caught out if they make such a mistake. It will not be good for them if they cause a problem.
“I wish that all goes well so that we can finally see the true world champion.”
Martin has improved his riding in the last few years and is now the only rider who consistently challenges Bagnaia, the two-time champion.
Martin, who suffered a crushing defeat in 2023 has displayed more maturity this year. His consistency was key to outscoring Bagnaia throughout the year, despite only scoring three Sunday victories to the Italian’s 10.
Martin verbally agreed with Ducati that Bagnaia would join the factory team in 2019, but the Borgo Panigale marque changed its mind, signing Marc Marquez as a replacement for Bastianini.
Martin was prompted to cut all ties with Ducati and forge a path with Aprilia despite the differing fortunes of both brands in MotoGP.
Stoner praised Bagnaia, who was on the brink of becoming the only third rider to ever win a premier class title for Ducati. The other two were Stoner and the Australian.
“Jorge has continuously improved and shown what he’s capable of.” “He deserves to win the World Championship,” he said.
“It would be a blow to Ducati to lose him next year. But I think it’s even worse for Jorge who has been loyal to the brand all these years and has put in extraordinary effort to be the one able to fight Bagnaia and win races and championships, and he was denied the chance to move up to a factory team. I don’t believe it’s right.
“Ducati is a company that has lost a lot of riders because they do things that way.” It’s not about money. You race because you love it and you want to have fun. When people turn you away so easily, it’s hard to find motivation. You go somewhere else.”
