Jorge Martin believes that Ducati must regret not signing him to their factory team after his victory over Francesco Bagnaia in the 2024 title fight.

Martin was denied a promotion to Ducati's factory team for 2025 after his four years with the satellite Pramac team. Instead, Ducati chose to sign Marc Marquez.

Initially, Ducati planned to promote Martin after his impressive performances in previous seasons, but the decision changed when Marquez refused to join Pramac with a factory bike. This decision was made early in the season, during the Italian Grand Prix in June, when Martin was still battling for the championship against Bagnaia.

Now, after winning the title on a satellite bike and defeating Ducati's favored rider Bagnaia, Martin feels that Ducati is likely second-guessing their decision.

“When all this was decided, I wasn’t a champion. It’s difficult to predict these things, but it’s clear that right now they’re probably regretting it,” he said. “But you have to ask them that. In the end, I look out for myself, life takes you to places you don’t expect.”

While Ducati focused on supporting Bagnaia’s bid for a third consecutive title, Martin was given the same equipment at Pramac. Through consistent performances, he secured his first title, despite the fact that he won fewer races than in 2023.

Although he acknowledged that Bagnaia had the advantage of being on a better-funded factory team, Martin praised Ducati for ensuring equal treatment throughout the season.

“My equipment was the same as Pecco's, I can’t deny that,” he said. “But the treatment at the factory is completely different. When you’re at an official team, you have everyone working for you, trying to make you the winner. I felt like there were twelve people on my team against two or three hundred. That made it more difficult. But I thank Ducati for not doing anything against us. Nobody expected it, everyone expected something strange to happen in the last few races, but they have been very noble, and that is admirable.”

In 2024, Ducati’s hierarchy was pretty clear, with Martin and Bagnaia leading the pack. Only occasional wins from Enea Bastianini and Marquez disrupted the status quo, with the pair claiming five wins between them out of 20 races.

Martin is thankful to have raced alongside Bagnaia, Marquez, and Bastianini, as it improved his skills and helped him win the championship.

“Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, and Enea Bastianini have all made me a better rider, they have pushed me to give my all,” Martin said. “When I wasn’t one of them, it was the other who could have won, and I was always in that fight, and that made the difference. It was a very difficult title to win, we achieved a historic points record, which already tells you the competitiveness was very high, and having beaten them is incredible.”

Martin will join Aprilia in 2025 as part of a new line-up that includes another Ducati exile, Marco Bezzecchi.