Motorcycling-Aprilia really want me, says MotoGP leader Martin after Ducati snub

FILE PHOTO: MotoGP - Catalunya Grand Prix - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain - May 26, 2024 Prima Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin celebrates after finishing second place in the Catalunya Grand Prix REUTERS/Bruna Casas/File Photo

(Reuters) - MotoGP world championship leader Jorge Martin said his switch from Pramac Racing to Aprilia from the 2025 season came about because he wished to race for a team that "really wanted" him after the factory Ducati team opted to sign Marc Marquez.

Martin and six-times MotoGP champion Marquez were both being considered for the factory Ducati seat to race alongside reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia, with Ducati eventually signing the Gresini Racing rider on a two-year deal.

Riding for the satellite Pramac team, Martin had impressed on the Desmosedici GP24 bike -- the same bike as the factory Ducatis -- to sit top of the riders' standings with 171 points after seven rounds, 18 points ahead of Bagnaia.

But Marquez, riding last year's Desmosedici GP23 machine for Gresini, has finally come to grips with the Italian bike after 11 years with Honda, and the Spaniard sits third in the standings.

Martin had finished runner-up last season with Pramac and is the MotoGP's sprint king, but made the decision to sign with Aprilia when he no longer felt wanted by Ducati.

"It was the best opportunity. I think I will be much happier in the next years where I go and I also will be a factory rider. That was my dream," Martin told reporters ahead of this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix.

"I go to a place where they really want me and they will give 100% for me. This is important.

"It's still a long season to go, I'm a Ducati rider and I want to be fully professional and finish the year in the best way."

For Marquez, riding the factory Ducati would give him the opportunity to contend for titles again after four bruising years with Honda where he nearly contemplated retirement due to several injuries when he rode the bike beyond its limits.

But after a bedding-in period with Gresini, Marquez has climbed up the standings with consecutive podiums as he gets ever closer to a first race victory since 2021.

"I tried to do my best, I was one of the contenders for the official Ducati bike and for me also it was already a big pleasure," Marquez said.

"I did my 100% on the race track and then on Sunday night, after Mugello (Italian Grand Prix), they informed me that they decided I will be the rider. In two days we closed the contract.

"I'm super happy but there's still a season to go, to do my best in this Gresini team, a very professional and very good team."

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)