Marc Marquez has insisted that he wants to remain a MotoGP rider beyond his new two-year contract. The Spaniard penned a fresh deal with Ducati to partner Pecco Bagnaia, but there have been wholesale changes in the team’s ranks, with Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi and the Pramac team all leaving. Marquez, at 31, is the second-oldest rider on next season’s grid.
You never know [whether this might be your last contract], but I don’t wish for it,” Marquez said. “I want to stay longer than these two years. Even two years later.
“When I feel competitive, and competitive means being in the top six in every race. Very competitive means being in the top three.
“To win a championship you need all the tools, you need all the things in the right place. That’s not the case for me at the moment.”
Marquez is still in championship contention this season, but he is yet to win a race on a Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia wins German GP to claim fourth consecutive win as Jorge Martin crashes on penultimate lap
Highlights: Pecco Bagnaia profits on disastrous Jorge Martin crash to win German GP as Marquez brothers share podium
Marquez, who is out for a ninth world championship, is third in the championship, 56 points behind Bagnaia, who leads the way.
A ninth world title would see the Spaniard level with the legendary Valentino Rossi.
Marquez burst onto the scene at the tender age of 20, beating the biggest names in motorsports at the time, including Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, to win a maiden world title.
Next year he will become the hunted, with Martin, Bagnaia, and Pedro Acosta all gunning for glory.
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.
