Davide Tardozzi, Ducati team manager, said that he has no problem if Jorge Martin wins the 2024 title and takes it with him to Aprilia next season.

Martin’s future with Ducati was decided after the Italian Grand Prix when the brand postponed its plan to promote him to the factory team in 2025, choosing Marc Marquez instead. Thanks to this decision, Aprilia secured Martin’s contract for next year, raising the possibility that he could win the title with Ducati and carry it to his new team.

Many speculated that this would lead Ducati to reduce its support for Martin in his title battle against Francesco Bagnaia, but the team has continued backing him.

Tardozzi acknowledges the possibility of Martin winning the title and then moving on, but he also finds comfort in the fact that the championship record would show Ducati as the winning manufacturer.

“It’s clear that if Jorge wins the title, he will likely run with number one, since it’s a rare opportunity,” Tardozzi told TNT Sport before the Malaysian GP, after which Martin led the standings by 24 points. “He’ll want it on his bike. But the history books will show ‘Jorge Martin - Ducati.’ The number one is for the rider, but the machine is Ducati. So for us, it’s not an issue. We’ll work hard to bring it back in 2026. If he wins, he can take number one – but he won it with Ducati.”

Tardozzi added that even if Ducati loses the 2024 championship to another team, Martin’s success would still validate Ducati's decision to recruit him from Moto2 in 2021.

“Jorge Martin is still our contracted rider, so we’re happy in a way. But I have ‘Ducati Lenovo’ next to my name, and we’ll focus on helping Pecco perform at his best and see what Jorge does,” Tardozzi said. “At the end of the day, he’s a rider who grew with Ducati, and he could win the championship with Ducati. It shows we made a good choice bringing him from Moto2 to MotoGP.”