Martin fought Francesco Bagnaia all the best way to the ultimate race of the 2023 season on his Pramac Ducati, however ended up 39 factors brief after a crash within the Valencia Grand Prix handed the title to the ltalian.
Had Martin received the championship, he would have been mechanically promoted to the manufacturing facility crew instead of Enea Bastianini, however will stay with the works-backed Pramac squad as an alternative.
Martin stated after the Valencia GP that if he hadn’t already proved to Ducati that he deserved to be in its factory team, then he never will after the season he had in 2023.
When requested by Autosport if he agreed with Martin’s evaluation, Dall’Igna stated: “Completely. I agree with him.
“He did a incredible job this yr and he deserves the manufacturing facility crew, for positive. However there are some contracts in place, there are lots of issues that aren’t potential to alter.”
Ducati sporting director Davide Tardozzi concedes that for the Italian marque the strongest line-up it may have is Martin and Bagnaia.
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
However he additionally thinks it’s “truthful” that Bastianini – who received the Malaysian GP – was given a second season on the manufacturing facility crew after the “silly fucking accident” in Portugal within the opening spherical left him with a shoulder damage that hampered his marketing campaign.
“The story is for positive Martin deserves a manufacturing facility bike and he has the manufacturing facility bike,” Tardozzi stated, when requested by Autosport in regards to the Martin and Bastianini swap situation.
“And we proved that additionally with a satellite tv for pc crew you’ll be able to win the title as a result of in the long run he was so, so near successful the title.
“It’s apparent on this second that Bastianini arrived into the manufacturing facility crew due to his outcomes of 2022.
“So, for what occurred, we expect it’s not truthful to swap Bastianini and Martin.
“Clearly, at this time the strongest crew for us is Martin and Bagnaia. However why do we’ve got to come back again to our resolution that was Bastianini deserved the manufacturing facility crew?
“Due to this fucking silly accident on this first race fucked up his season. So, we expect it’s truthful we gave him one other alternative.”
Bastianini missed the opening 5 rounds of the season because of the shoulder damage he suffered within the Portugal dash after a tangle with Luca Marini, whereas he would sit out three extra grands prix after struggling a number of fractures in a Flip 1 pile-up in Barcelona.
All of those damage woes made his adaptation from the 2021-spec Ducati to the 2023 model a lot slower, with a breakthrough in understanding the engine braking and corner-entry efficiency of the GP23 coming in Malaysia.