Marc Marquez’s name was met with boos at the Ducati’s season closing event in Bologna.
Several of the 8,000 or so attendees at the Unipol Arena in Bologna where Ducati’s Campioni in festa event was held, booed when popular Sky Sport Italia host and pundit Guido Meda mentioned Marc Marquez.
In a little more than two months, Marc Marquez’s Gresini journey will get underway with the opening Grand Prix of 2024 MotoGP. The Catalan will begin a new chapter in his career by donning the colors of one of the most prominent teams in the premier category and leaving behind the team that has stood with him since his debut.
At the moment, Marquez’s experience at Ducati has only been positive with the exception of the remarks made by the Borgo Panigale team’s senior management, who has stated on multiple occasions that they are not interested in sticking with the Catalan rider in the future.
Furthermore, a significant portion of his brand’s associates and main rivals are riders from the renowned Valentino Rossi academy, with Marquez being one of the eight-time world champion’s past adversaries.
“For better or worse, in the Ducati world there are many riders of Rossi’s VR46 and let’s say that the Marquez family is not well regarded,” said Paolo Campinoti, head of Pramac this week in an interview with Paddock TV. “There is going to be even more trouble in the trouble.”
Gaining the affection of people who had previously been his competitors will be one of the Cervera rider’s goals upon joining Ducati. And not just from the riders, but also from each and every Ducati fan.
The discontent with Marquez was evident even at the Ducati – Campioni in festa – closing ceremony for the 2023 season, which took place at the Unipol Arena in Bologna. The fans there booed the rider who was previously affiliated with Repsol Honda when the event’s presenter, Guido Meda, mentioned him as he was questioning two-time world champion, Pecco Bagnaia.
“I think without a doubt Marc Marquez will be another competitor,” Bagnaia said. “He will be very fast, but we have already seen that during the tests.
“Obviously, he was able to search for maximum performance, even pushing the limits of the stopwatch’s speed to fully explore the new bike.
“In my opinion, he did very well and was very quick. But that was what I expected from him, especially because he was on a difficult bike and still rode it to the best of his abilities.
“It’s going to be a good fight, but not just with him, because we cannot forget about Marco Bezzecchi, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin, Franco Morbidelli. All of them will be fast with Ducati.”
Marquez was not present at the event owing to his contract with Honda.
