Alex Marquez reveals Gresini “promise” he made amid 2027 MotoGP contract talks

Alex Marquez has opened up on his decision to join KTM for the 2027 MotoGP season, as well as the “promise” he made to Gresini during negotiations.

The 2025 championship runner-up announced earlier this week that he would be joining KTM as a factory rider alongside Fabio Di Giannantonio next season.

It will mark the second time in Alex Marquez’s career that he will race for a works squad, having made his debut with Repsol Honda in 2020.

Marquez has been linked to a KTM move for some time, and revealed on Thursday ahead of the German Grand Prix what convinced him about the project.

“I’m super excited,” he said of the KTM deal.

“After last year, where I was the runner-up, I was just trying to have the opportunity to be in a factory team.

“And it’s true that, when I started to speak with KTM, they were really convinced to have me in the project.

“They were showing me everything and that passion that a rider and the eagerness that a rider needs. I decided that.

“It was not an easy decision, but in that moment, Nadia [Padovani], Michele [Masini], and Carlo [Merlini] were informed from the first day that I spoke with KTM, because I made a promise to Nadia that if somebody comes that I would speak to her first of all.

“It’s true that I signed a few months ago, but I’m still really excited because it’s a really great opportunity and a really great step for me in my MotoGP career.”

Marquez has factory support from Ducati in 2026, but does not have a works contract; Di Giannantonio, at VR46, does.

For the Spaniard, his experience of fighting for runner-up spot last year on a 2024-spec bike was something that convinced him to find a factory deal.

“It’s true when you are in a satellite team but have a factory contract, it’s more or less the same thing,” he added.

“It will never be the same as the factory team. Maybe some things will arrive slightly later, but the support is there.

“But the thing is that the majority of riders try to find the factory contract because then you have direct factory support to your team or your satellite team.

“So, that was the main thing. And especially last year, from the bike that you will start the first race to the third race can be completely different.

“So, for me, it was so important to be in a factory team.”

Why didn’t Alex Marquez wait for a Ducati offer?

Marquez’s chances of stepping up to Ducati’s factory team were slim, with the brand keen to sign Pedro Acosta alongside Marc Marquez.

Alex Marquez says that he accepted Ducati’s decision early on, and isn’t sure if any kind of offer would have come had he waited.

“I don’t know if I was waiting a little bit longer if it would arrive or not, but in that moment they were quite focused already to sign Pedro,” he said.

“That’s something that I accept, it’s something normal. Pedro, I think, is a future champion of MotoGP and is really young.

“I’m already 30. So, I’m in a different situation than Pedro. So, maybe if I waited a little bit more, maybe it would have arrived.

“But in that moment, I said, ‘I want this’. I was really convinced. Also, I’m lucky that I know many people inside the KTM project, who were working with me in the past. So, I just did some [pros] and cons, and I decided.”