Marco Bezzecchi
Valentino Rossi retired from MotoGP action four years ago, but that doesn’t prevent him from offering his opinion on current affairs.
The seven-time champion stepped away from the sport in 2021 after spending the final nine years of his career with Yamaha.
In between two spells with the Japanese manufacturer, he spent a couple of disappointing seasons with Ducati.
They’re a completely different team now, with their factory bike having finished inside the top two of the championships for the last four years running.
In the hands of Francesco Bagnaia, it has been a devastating combination and one that looks set to be a force to be reckoned with for a while.
Bagnaia felt he gave Ducati bad vibes in 2024 when under pressure to perform, and it’s something which may have hurt his championship charge. He has vowed to be calmer in the future.
Valentino Rossi says Francesco Bagnaia is MotoGP title favourite and will ‘redeem himself’
Bagnaia endured a messy 2024 campaign at best and failed to claim the championship despite winning nine more races than Jorge Martin.
The Spaniard made far fewer mistakes and it paid dividends in the end, as he claimed the title despite Bagnaia winning four of the last five Grands Prix.
Martin moves to Aprilia Racing next season which should mean that he will struggle to defend his crown on a lesser bike.
READ MORE: Francesco Bagnaia admits Ducati have already suffered one ‘big loss’ ahead of the 2025 MotoGP season
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Valentino Rossi picked Bagnaia to steal the championship back from Martin in 2025.
“In Ducati, they are the favourites for the title, Pecco is very loaded because he wants to redeem himself from last year’s defeat,” he said.
Why Francesco Bagnaia is favourite to win the MotoGP title in 2025
Bagnaia spent his honeymoon mulling over his 2024 MotoGP mistakes which goes to show just how much he wants to bounce back from them.
The 27-year-old could easily be a four-time champion by now, but it just hasn’t quite panned out the way he would have hoped after falling short by 26 points in 2021 and 10 points in 2024.
He may even face a greater challenge next season with six-time champion Marc Marquez arriving to be his teammate.
Bagnaia competed against Marquez in spells last season and will now have to face him in equal machinery.
The Ducati GP25 is already slated to be an improvement over the previous bike, so watch out for a titanic title battle between those two if they’re able to limit their mistakes.
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