“As everyone knows, we confirmed Enea for the official team at the end of August,” Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti told MotoGP.com during the Malaysian GP weekend.

“It’s true with Martin’s current level of performance it’s a reality we should consider. But no decision taken obviously, but let’s see. We cannot ignore this level of performance [by Martin]…”

Coincidence or not, Bastianini, who has been sidelined by injuries twice this season, then delivered by far his best weekend as a factory rider.

The Italian followed team-mate and title leader Francesco Bagnaia home for fourth in the Sprint, then brilliantly won the Sunday grand prix, also his first podium appearance in factory red.

Although Martin rides for Pramac, like Bastianini, Bagnaia and Johann Zarco he is contracted directly to the Ducati factory, simplifying the possibility of a switch.

“We are very happy that everyone is talking about us, and about our riders!” said team manager Davide Tardozzi, responding to the rider switch rumours on TNT Sports.

“The truth is that the riders belong to Ducati.

“They have Ducati contracts. Honestly, we can do what we want.

“We decide things, we can change things, we can re-change things, everything can happen.

“In this moment, we have no talk about it.

“We never had doubts about Enea. He suffered from his injuries.

“[Why] was he at the back?… Obviously because he is injured.

“Sometimes they want to try to do too much.

“One of the key points was Friday night. Pecco helped him. This makes a huge difference in Enea’s attitude.”

Asked for his opinion, Bagnaia said it would be ‘not fair’ for Bastianini to lose his factory seat given his injury-ravaged season.

Martin said he would be “proud if I continue in Pramac next season, but for sure if Ducati wants me to join with a red bike I will be super happy also.”

Since Martin’s factory move is only thought to be a possibility if he wins the MotoGP title, which would be a first for a satellite team rider, Bastianini will have extra incentive to help Bagnaia in his quest for a second premier-class championship.

Bagnaia starts this weekend’s penultimate round in Qatar with a 14-point lead over Martin, with 74 points still available.

“As everyone knows, we confirmed Enea for the official team at the end of August,” Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti told MotoGP.com during the Malaysian GP weekend.

“It’s true with Martin’s current level of performance it’s a reality we should consider. But no decision taken obviously, but let’s see. We cannot ignore this level of performance [by Martin]…”

Coincidence or not, Bastianini, who has been sidelined by injuries twice this season, then delivered by far his best weekend as a factory rider.

The Italian followed team-mate and title leader Francesco Bagnaia home for fourth in the Sprint, then brilliantly won the Sunday grand prix, also his first podium appearance in factory red.

Although Martin rides for Pramac, like Bastianini, Bagnaia and Johann Zarco he is contracted directly to the Ducati factory, simplifying the possibility of a switch.

“We are very happy that everyone is talking about us, and about our riders!” said team manager Davide Tardozzi, responding to the rider switch rumours on TNT Sports.

“The truth is that the riders belong to Ducati.

“They have Ducati contracts. Honestly, we can do what we want.

“We decide things, we can change things, we can re-change things, everything can happen.

“In this moment, we have no talk about it.

“We never had doubts about Enea. He suffered from his injuries.

“[Why] was he at the back?… Obviously because he is injured.

“Sometimes they want to try to do too much.

“One of the key points was Friday night. Pecco helped him. This makes a huge difference in Enea’s attitude.”

Asked for his opinion, Bagnaia said it would be ‘not fair’ for Bastianini to lose his factory seat given his injury-ravaged season.

Martin said he would be “proud if I continue in Pramac next season, but for sure if Ducati wants me to join with a red bike I will be super happy also.”

Since Martin’s factory move is only thought to be a possibility if he wins the MotoGP title, which would be a first for a satellite team rider, Bastianini will have extra incentive to help Bagnaia in his quest for a second premier-class championship.

Bagnaia starts this weekend’s penultimate round in Qatar with a 14-point lead over Martin, with 74 points still available.

The VR46 rider hopes to exploit the proven form of last year’s title-winning GP22 to his advantage in the opening rounds – “we have a bike that you take out of the flight case and is ready to win” – before the factory teams get to grips with their new machines.

But in overall terms the Italian believes it’s important for the business side of MotoGP that “the championship has to be won by a factory team” and that official riders always have a “small advantage” over the satellite riders, citing the example of Suzuki’s shock exit at the end of last year.

An Independent rider has never won the ‘MotoGP’ title although Sete Gibernau (2003, 2004), Marco Melandri (2005) and Franco Morbidelli (2020) finished runner-up. Bastianini was third overall in last year’s standings on a year-old Ducati at Gresini.

Asked if he felt satellite MotoGP riders should have some technical concessions, such as an extra new tyre or a little more fuel, to help compensate for the added human and technical resources available to factory teams, Marini replied:

“No, no. Because factory teams need to win.

“They put a lot of money [into MotoGP], so they need to win races and championships because [otherwise] it will be a big problem for the manufacturers and we don’t want that any manufacturers retire from MotoGP.

“We already suffered from Suzuki [leaving]. We want more manufacturers to compete in MotoGP at this level, because our sport is so beautiful also because of this fight between different bikes.

“The goal of every rider is to try to go in a factory team and then try to win with that bike. We need to perform well on the satellite team to achieve this target, not try to change the regulations to perform and try to win with the satellite team.

“It’s a pity for the satellite team, I know, but we need to think also on the business side. “

‘MotoGP is better than F1’

Pressed on if he was saying that the satellite teams are almost too competitive now, the 25-year-old explained:

“I prefer this level [of competition between factory and satellite] for sure! For me, it’s a better show now. But I know that from a different position, you want more gap between the satellite team and factory team.

“Because when you arrive [in a factory team] you reach your dream to compete in MotoGP for a factory team, you want to have this small gap, this small advantage.

“Because you make a big effort to arrive there. You show your potential, you sacrifice a lot for a ride there and if you have the same bike as another rider on the satellite team you are not happy, in my opinion.

“I don’t feel this now, for sure, but the championship has to be won by a factory team.

“It needs to be like this for the future because we need more manufacturers fighting for victory. In the future, we don’t want that also other [brands] to retire from this paddock because we need all the support we can to put this beautiful sport as the best sport in the world after football.

“I think it’s impossible to fight with [football], but try to fight with Formula One and beat them because our motorsport is better than their motorsport!”

Marini’s factory team target for 2024

Given Marini’s comments about the need to retain a level of advantage for the factory teams, he unsurprisingly confirmed that his target is to secure an official seat for 2024: “Yeah, exactly.”

Complicating Marini’s factory quest is that he would be in competition with the likes of team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, while the only known factory seat available for next season is in place of their fellow VR46 Academy member Franco Morbidelli at Yamaha.

Asked about going head-to-head with not only his friends, but riders under the same management structure, Marini admitted:

“Yeah, it’s very, very complicated. It’s very difficult. My only strategy is to try to have good results and then we will see. I just try to do my best and be better than the others.”

Can Marini repeat Bastianini’s round 1 win?

It may not be ideal for the business side of MotoGP, but Marini’s consistent speed over the four days of official testing since last year’s Valencia finale suggests he could well be a thorn in the side of the five factories this year.

But while he needs to strike sooner rather than later, before the factories unlock more speed from their new bikes, round one in Portimao could be the exception.

“This season [with the GP22] the tests were really relaxed, much easier,” Marini said. “But I know that for the rest of the season it will be a little bit worse because we don’t have any [planned] upgrades I think.

“But if I can be fast and fight for the victory, I expect Gigi [Dall’Igna] will support me with something new, like they did with Bastianini last year.”

The six-time Moto2 race winner, yet to stand on the MotoGP podium, believes his chances of repeating Bastianini’s round one victory will be harder this year due to the presence of this weekend’s test ahead of the March 24-26 Portimao race weekend.

“We need to wait until the test in Portimao to see our potential because I was really strong in Valencia and in Sepang but they are completely different tracks compared to Portimao,” Marini said.

“But everybody will be ready to fight for the victory. In this moment all the Ducati bikes are strong and all the Ducati riders can fight for the podium and for the victory. For sure, I will be one of them and I will try to do my best to reach this goal,

“But it’s not as easy as we can think because with the test the situation is completely different compared to a normal GP [since] everybody will have two more days to prepare their bikes before the weekend.

“So it will be even more difficult on this side because we have a package that you take out the flight case and our bike is ready to win, I think.

“But with two more days of testing on the same track, everybody will be ready for the race on the 26th of March. So it will be not so easy.”

It was clearly a massive disappointment for the Australian, competing in his final Italian race as a home Ducati rider.

But when Miller returned to the pits, after bringing his damaged bike home in 18th, and saw the speed of Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini during their final lap showdown, it was something of a surprise, to say the least…!

“I don’t want to say I was going to win today or anything like that [because] those two guys at the front – I came in and saw their lap times on the last lap and basically shit my pants, to be honest!” Miller said.

“I mean, that was impressive. A ‘31.8 and ‘31.9, with 27 laps on the tyres, it’s the same as my pole lap!

“So those guys were pushing. I only saw some short [clips] of the race, but it looked like the pace was extremely fast at the front there and those guys were riding extremely well.

“Whether or not it was a missed opportunity [for me], it’s better not to even think about it. Just take the positives of the steps we made on the bike this weekend, the way that I’m feeling on the bike at the moment. And that’s it.

“I’ll try to learn from it. I was pushing there at the beginning, trying to get away a little bit or at least break the group up and that can happen.

“Not the day we had anticipated, but anyway, that’s the way the cookie crumbled.”

‘No rear brake and no wings on one side a bit of a handful’

After converting his pole position into the early lead, Miller’s downfall came at the slow Turn 4.

“I was a little bit wide coming out of 3, didn’t really think too much of it. Was coming in a little bit hot at 4, like it is sometimes with the first couple laps, just not decelerating maybe the way you like and came in wide off the kerb.

“All weekend, even if I was running wide, I was able to slide the bike to the apex.

“But I came off the kerb and the thing started doing ‘this’ a little bit and I knew I was on the limit and, yeah, she went away from me.

“I picked the bike up, continued, but riding one of these monsters with no rear brake and no wings on one side was a little bit of a handful, because the wheelie was pretty full on.

“But I didn’t give up, kept pushing to the end and the bike felt good, considering. The grip felt good.

“It just makes you more hungry for what could have been.”

‘I don’t know if they’re trying to get their money’s worth out of me!’

Despite leaving Ducati for KTM at the end of this season, Miller expects to be a busy man at the test on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“I think they’ve got a long list of stuff for me to try. And the majority of the stuff won’t be on the bike this year, so I don’t know if they’re trying to get their money’s worth out of me or what!” he joked.

“We’ll wait and see what the plan is, I haven’t really gone over it completely. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do it.”

While team-mate Bagnaia’s victory moves him to second in the world championship, the non-scores for Johann Zarco and Miller on Sunday mean they have both dropped behind Gresini’s Bastianini in fifth and sixth.