Jorge Lorenzo thinks Marc Marquez will fight for next season’s MotoGP championship if he joins Ducati.
The eight-time world champion has confirmed that he will quit Honda at the end of 2023, bringing an end to their 11-year emotional bond.
It is expected that Marquez will link up with his brother at Gresini Racing, where he will ride a year-old Desmosedici.
“It was an open secret,” Marquez’s ex-Honda teammate Lorenzo told DAZN.
“More or less we knew what was going to happen, not 100%, but it was [hinted at], since Ducati itself admitted these negotiations and the subject was talked about practically all the time.
“I don’t rule it out even to win the world championship if Ducati gives him a motorcycle that is just as competitive, similar to the competitiveness of the official bike, which Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini ride.
“I don’t rule it out because we have seen what Alex Marquez has been able to do, who is an excellent rider, a Moto3 and Moto2 world champion, but who perhaps does not have the aggressiveness or natural talent of his brother, which has been demonstrated in the past.
“Marc has between a few tenths and a second more than his brother Alex. I think that will be reflected immediately, as soon as he gets on the Ducati.
“We will see if he adapts quickly or if it costs him more.
“But if he adapts quickly and has a bike similar to that of Bastianini and Bagnaia, I would not rule him out for the title in his first season.
“We have seen cases in the past. For me, he is still the best, Marc Marquez, physically and mentally, I would not rule him out.”
Since winning the 2019 MotoGP championship with Lorenzo as his teammate, Marquez has endured four terrible seasons.
A worrying injury history, plus Honda’s inability to give him a competitive bike, mean he has been languishing off the pace of the title challengers.
Ducati, armed with eight bikes on the grid, have emerged as the top manufacturer and now appear almost certain to welcome Marquez into their fold next year.
Keyword: Jorge Lorenzo delivers a brutal prediction about Marc Marquez on a Ducati