Livio Suppo, once MotoGP team manager at Ducati, Honda and Suzuki, can imagine Marc Marquez returning to Honda in 2025 after just one year at Ducati
Marc Marquez is facing the first season of his MotoGP career that he will not tackle as a Honda rider. The six-time premier class world champion has signed a one-year contract with Gresini-Ducati for 2024. It is currently unclear which team he will ride for in the following 2025 season
So Marquez is already a candidate for the Ducati factory team for 2025, where the first six races of the 2024 season will be used as the basis for new rider contracts. Meanwhile, former MotoGP team manager Livio Suppo, who once worked at Ducati, later at Honda and most recently at Suzuki, can also imagine a Marquez return to Honda after just one year at Ducati.
“Who knows what will happen with Marc? He will certainly be competitive and will therefore, in theory, be of interest to the Ducati factory team. But that would mean that one of the others would have to make way for him. That won’t be easy to manage,” Suppo is quoted as saying by MotoGP.com.
Those who will have to deal with the issue mentioned by Suppo are the new Ducati Sporting Director Mauro Grassilli and, last but not least, the Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall’Igna, who has gained even more power. In his position from the outside, Suppo assumes that “Ducati will certainly try to keep ‘Pecco’ [Bagnaia], after all he is a two-time world champion”.
However, Suppo does not believe that the place next to Bagnaia for 2025 will go to Marc Marquez. He points to the first races of the upcoming 2024 season: “If the competition from Ducati can show at the start of the season that they have come closer, then it will be more difficult [for Ducati] to keep all the riders. There will also be less time to make decisions. “
When asked whether he could imagine a return to Honda for Marquez, Suppo replied: “Why not? Marc insisted on only getting a one-year contract. That’s what he got at Gresini.”
“I think,” says the Italian, “he wanted this contract for just one year to find out first whether he is still fast enough to fight for the World Championship. As soon as he has found out, he will look at what Honda is doing, what KTM is doing, what Ducati is doing, and then he will make his decision”.
“Don’t rule out the possibility of Marc going back to Honda,” emphasized Suppo, adding: “We only have to think about how the separation went. Everything happened in a very amicable way. I don’t just mean the PR side, but also that Marc and Honda tried to find the best solution for both sides.”
Marc Marquez originally had a contract with Honda until the end of 2024. However, this contract, which was extended by four years in spring 2020, was terminated a year before it was due to expire, allowing the Spaniard to dock with Gresini-Ducati for 2024.
It remains to be seen whether Marquez will actually return to Honda after just one year for 2025, or whether he will possibly switch to the Ducati factory team. Much will depend on how competitive Honda presents itself in the 2024 season thanks to the extensive concessions
