Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1514572
Big Money Contracts Are Over, Say Ducati T he days of Marc Marquez command- ing the kind of salary he was being paid by Repsol Honda are over, according to former Ducati MotoGP boss, Paolo Ciabatti. Rumors are already swirling that Ducati will make a play for Marquez to be placed in the factory team for 2025 but they will not be paying what Honda paid for the privilege of having the eight-time world champion sign on the dotted line. Marquez was paid a base salary of $16 million by Honda, and that was before the myriad personal sponsorship con - tracts were totaled. "Almost all the [riders' contracts] are expiring, in Ducati we will wait for the first 5-6 races to get a picture of the situation even if we have quite clear ideas," said Paolo Cia - batti, who has exited his MotoGP role to oversee Ducati's off-road program, to Motosprint. "Looking ahead to 2025, in all likelihood one of the two factory riders will be Francesco Bagnaia. As far as Marc Marquez is concerned, we will make our assessments based on the results. "But from our point of view, the times of multi- million-dollar contracts are over. The fact that we are the manufacturer with the most desired bike allows us to make more sustain - able reasoning on an economic level." Ducati has been burned by high salaries in the past, with the likes of Valentino Rossi and more recently Jorge Lorenzo, who was paid a whopping $28 million for two seasons in 2017 and 2018, leaving their mark on the compa - ny's balance sheet. CN WIND IN THE P42 Marc Marquez won't be getting a massive money offer from Ducati in 2025 if he gets an offer at all. Not that he needs the money… Elf Marc VDS Racing Unveils WorldSBK Machine T he Elf Marc VDS Racing team will expand from its Moto2 borders in 2024 with Sam Lowes heading back to WorldSBK on a Ducati Panigale V4 R unveiled in the Chateau de Modave in Belgium over the weekend. Former WorldSSP Champion and mul - tiple Moto2 race winner Lowes will return to the WorldSBK paddock and face brother Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) for the first time on a world level. Lowes was due to race in WorldSBK in 2014 but paid to get out of his contract to move to grand prix racing in Moto2 that season. "It's a big new challenge for me to change category after a long time and I'm very happy and motivated to start," Lowes said. "I'd like to say a huge thanks to Marc for asking me to be the first rider for his team in WorldSBK. The bike is beautiful and it's an amazing feel- ing to ride a Ducati. "I just need to learn the bike, tires, and format over a race weekend with the three races. The first goal in the tests will be to make the bike mine and feel comfortable. I just need laps and mileage on the bike to understand many things. But this will come and if we had to go racing today, I feel we could do a good job." CN Alex Lowes pulls the covers off the beautiful Marc VDS Ducati in Belgium. WorldSBK 2024 is shaping up to be a good show.