Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia missed out on the 2024 MotoGP title to Jorge Martin by just 10 points, denying him a third consecutive title.
The Italian won 11 races and only finished off the podium four times last year, but three retirements ultimately cost the factory Ducati rider. Martin became the first independent team rider to win a MotoGP championship, racing with Pramac.
Ducati completely dominated the premier class in 2024, winning all but one race. Maverick Vinales secured Aprilia the only non-Ducati victory in Austin, but the Foale-based team still finished behind KTM in the constructors’ standings in third.
Heading into 2025, Ducati will be looking to continue their dominance, with Bagnaia surely the favourite to win his third title. Defending champion Martin will move from Pramac to become a factory Aprilia rider, which will make his title charge more difficult given he is on a slower bike.
But speaking to Serbian publication SportKlub, Bagnaia admitted that Ducati have already been dealt a huge blow in their bid to continue where they left off in 2024.
Francesco Bagnaia says Pramac leaving Ducati will be a ‘big loss’ in 2025
As Bagnaia notes, a significant reason for Ducati’s sheer dominance in 2024 was the fact they had eight riders across four teams – the factory team and the three satellite outfits Pramac, Gresini and VR46.
However, for 2025, the manufacturer will have three teams and six riders. Pramac made the unprecedented decision last year to leave Ducati and enter an agreement with Yamaha.
For Bagnaia, fewer riders on the grid will make it ‘very difficult’ for Ducati to maintain their dominance and they will have to ‘analyse everything’ to make up for the heavy blow.
“I believe Ducati is at this level right now thanks to having eight bikes and eight riders,” he said.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Ducati from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
“The loss of three riders who are among the fastest on Ducati, the loss of a team like Pramac, is certainly a big loss for Ducati. We will have to analyse everything, to understand what we need to do to compensate for that loss.
“It is absolutely clear that Mark will be very fast, his approach to the start of the season will be to be fully focused on the development of the bike and the team. And then we will start racing and fighting, but Ducati is currently at this level because it had a large number of riders who stood out.
“I believe that next season it will be more difficult to fill all the places on the podium, as has been the case almost all season.
“It will be more difficult, especially because there will be fewer of us compared to this season, so it will be harder to see such a dominance of Ducati”.
Ducati have lost three key riders ahead of 2025
It will not be just the loss of Pramac that will hit Ducati hard this season as they have lost three important riders heading into 2025 – Martin being the standout one.
Enea Bastianini, who won two races in 2024, has also left Ducati and joined KTM’s satellite team Tech3, despite the ongoing financial crisis the manufacturer is suffering.
Marco Bezzecchi will join Martin at Apiliia in 2025 after leaving VR46. The loss of a team and three race winners in MotoGP will be hard to take for Ducati.
READ MORE: 2025 MotoGP rider contract lengths and wages including Francesco Bagnaia’s Ducati deal
Martin’s Pramac teammate Franco Morbidelli will stay with the Italian manufacturer as he joins VR46 alongside Fabio DI Giannantonio. Alex Marquez has been retained by Gresini and he will be partnered with rookie Fermin Aldeguer in 2025.
Six-time champion Marc Marquez will team up with Bagnaia at the factory Ducati team and will provide tough competition for the Italian.
While the Spaniard still has the speed to compete at the front, Roberto Rolfo says Marquez is more error-prone than Bagnaia, which could hamper his bid to grab a seventh title,
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