Moto2 frontrunner Fermin Aldeguer is still waiting for Ducati to decide the team with which he will make his step up to MotoGP in 2025.
Aldeguer had been expected to join Pramac after he signed a MotoGP contract directly with Ducati at the start of his third season in Moto2.
But Pramac’s decision to break a long association with Ducati and join the Yamaha fold next year has complicated matters for Aldeguer, who is now left with just two options on the 2025 MotoGP grid.
Ducati could either place him at VR46 alongside Fabio di Giannantonio, who is understood to have verbally agreed a deal to ride a factory-spec GP25 next year, or pair him up with Alex Marquez at Gresini.
The situation is complicated by Valentino Rossi wanting to give his protege Franco Morbidelli a new home at VR46, with the Italian expected to lose his ride at the end of the year as a result of Pramac’s tie-up with his former employer Yamaha.
Wherever Aldeguer ends up, he will only have access to what would then be a year-old GP24 bike in 2025, with the Borgo Panigale marque having decided to cut down the supply of factory bikes on the grid from next year.
Speaking about his future, the 19-year-old said he is happy to leave matters in the hands of Ducati, insisting he has no preference between VR46 and Gresini.
"I signed with Ducati, so any team that goes with a Ducati bike is a possibility," he replied in response to a question by Autosport.
"Before there was also the possibility of Pramac, but not now, now it's just Valentino and Gresini, but I think it will depend a lot on the teams and the contracts they make particularly with the factory.
"I will be transferred to one bike or the other. I can be happy with the Ducati, I don't have any preferences.”
However, Aldeguer is hoping Ducati will be able to finalise the details of his debut MotoGP season during the three-week summer break that kicked in after last Sunday’s German Grand Prix. This, he says, is vital for other arrangements, including those with his sponsors.
"During these three weeks of break, they are supposed to tell us where we are going. Above all to be able to manage the issue of sponsors and equipment,” he said.
“It changes a lot to go to one team or another, not only for these two we are talking about, but in general. So let's see if they tell me soon and we can start tying things up.”
Aldeguer finished a strong third in the 2023 Moto2 standings after ending the season with four victories on the trot between Thailand and Valencia.
However, after his 2024 campaign got off to a mixed start, some questioned why Ducati hurried to sign him - especially as it appeared that he was headed towards getting the latest-spec machinery at Pramac.
But having scored a second victory of the year at the Sachsenring last weekend and moved up to fourth in the championship, Aldeguer feels he has responded to his critics and is now in a position to aim for the championship.
"It looks like yes, we closed some [mouths] with this race,” he said. "But that's a topic that doesn't interest me. I fight for myself, so we did a super smart race, we showed again the potential we have and I am very happy.
"After the podium in Assen and this victory in Germany, I am going to the break very calm, with a lot of motivation for the second half of the season. We have cut it, we are 39 points behind [standings leader Sergio Garcia].
“I am not thinking about the championship, but it is clear that we have the goal of trying to win it, but going race by race. Winning is how you cut the most points.”
