Let no one be fooled: as much as the Italian brand wants to publicly disassociate itself from the agreement that will link Marc Marquez to Gresini, it would be naive to think that the Spaniard will be riding a Desmosedici next season without approval from Ducati or, at least, of its most influential faction.
For some years now, most of the paddock has known that alongside Claudio Domenicali - the Bolognese company's CEO - there is no one with more decision-making power than Gigi Dall'Igna. It was he who, on the Sunday after the Japanese Grand Prix, made it clear that Marquez had decided to leave Honda to ride a satellite Ducati.
