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2024 promises to be the year of great changes, surprises, gambles and redemptions. At the centre of the spotlight is certainly Marc Marquez, an exile from Honda who has now landed on a Ducati, the GP23, in the Gresini team. A Gresini team that has built its history on gambles and courageous choices, starting from its foundation by the late Fausto Gresini, and then passed into the hands of his wife Nadia Padovani, assisted by their children and the commercial director Carlo Merlini. The agreement with Ducati from 2022 and the first successes in MotoGP make Nadia Padovani unique within the paddock, the first female Team Principal to take her own rider to the top step of the podium, we are referring to Qatar 2022 with Bastianini.
After having achieved successes in 2023, twice in the sprint thanks to Alex Marquez, and a victory in Qatar with a Fabio di Giannantonio who made a great improvement in the second half of the season, the Gresini team then bid an affectionate farewell to the Italian rider to replace him specifically with that Marc Marquez who decided to gamble his racing future on their team's Ducati. So now that the actors are all in their designated places, and the playing field is that of a recently very favourable Qatar, it is no surprise that all eyes and very high expectations are focused on Nadia Padovani's team. The team Principal, in an interview with speedweek.com, thus reveals her expectations regarding the two Marquez brothers for the 2024 season.
It is undeniable that the Gresini team has plenty of courage, as demonstrated by the hiring of a giant like Marc Marquez, announced late in the season in Indonesia.
“The courage was there straight away when my husband died. The decision to take Gresini Racing into my hands and continue the projects that my husband had in mind was a very brave one. In addition to the courage, there is now also great passion to continue these projects.”
A defining moment was certainly Marc's first exit from the Gresini pits on the Ducati at the Valencia tests. She said she only realized at that moment that for the first time Marc was racing for her.
“Yes, and it was fantastic to finally see him in my colours for the first time.”
The public's expectations around Marc Marquez and the Gresini team are now enormous. Furthermore, the 2024 MotoGP Championship season will begin under the spotlights of Doha, a circuit where the Gresini team has already won twice, first with Bastianini and then with Di Giannantonio.
“We come to Qatar motivated to at least do well. I'm not talking about winning because Ducati has really strong riders at the moment. But we plan to do well – maybe in the top 10.”
However, many imagine much higher goals for the rest of the season. A top 10 would be perhaps a modest goal for a six-time MotoGP world champion like Marc Marquez.
“Absolutely, yes. Over the course of the season, as he understands step by step how to use the bike and builds up a better and better feeling, our goal is definitely to be in the top five and maybe achieve a little more. We'll see that later, but at the moment it's still early to talk about it.”
Marc's arrival has certainly caught the attention, but on the other side of the garage there is still an Alex Marquez, in his second year on a Ducati with the Gresini team and who last year picked up two victories in the sprints, also for him the expectations are excellent.
“The goal for Alex is clearly to win a GP race. We are very happy with the results he achieved, he celebrated podium finishes and won two sprints. Our goal is clearly to get him onto the highest podium in the long race.”
With the brothers reunited in the same garage again, it will be exciting to see which of the two Marquez will manage to get the first victory…
"Exactly", the Team Principal concluded with a smile.
