Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia faces the strongest challenge of his MotoGP career so far in 2025 as Marc Marquez joins Ducati from Gresini.
The 28-year-old missed out on winning a third consecutive title last year by just 10 points after making some costly mistakes under pressure.
Bagnaia spent his honeymoon haunted by those 2024 mistakes as he missed out on claiming the championship despite taking eight more victories than eventual winner Jorge Martin.
The reigning champion is no longer on a Ducati bike after a move to Aprilia, opening the door for Bagnaia to reclaim his silverware.
However, he faces an even sterner challenge from six-time champion Marc Marquez, who was picked in favour of Martin for a role with the teams’ champions.
The Spaniard won three races last year but lagged behind overall on a GP23 bike that hadn’t been developed as much as Bagnaia or Martin’s GP24. Expect to see better results from him this season.
Marc Marquez blames Francesco Bagnaia’s MotoGP mistakes on ‘risks’
Marquez was suffering under traction with Ducati’s 2025 bike in testing which is something he will need to resolve ahead of the new season.
His teammate liked the engine improvements on the new bike and was impressed by the performance of the machine.
Valentino Rossi believes Bagnaia is the 2025 title favourite but he has to limit his mistakes if he wants to reign victorious over the grid again.
READ MORE: Marco Melandri names the strange reason Francesco Bagnaia is making mistakes that ‘cost him dearly’
Marquez blamed the Italian’s 2024 errors on risk-taking and came to the defence of his new partner in an interview with Motorsport-Total.
“He will be at the front, especially in the first races. Last year he won eleven races,” he said.
“Yes, he made a few mistakes. But if you don’t take any risks, you won’t win eleven races. It’s always a compromise.”
Why Marc Marquez will be more fired up than ever to challenge Francesco Bagnaia
It has been nearly six years since Marquez was last in contention for a MotoGP championship and that was when he claimed his sixth honour for Honda in 2019.
Since then, it has been a long road back to the front of the grid and he has put up with various crashes, injuries and poor bikes.
Now he’s on what is considered to be state-of-the-art machinery and is on a level playing field with the favourite for the crown.
READ MORE: Carlo Pernat in awe of what he’s seen ‘up close’ from MotoGP title contender Francesco Bagnaia
He rediscovered some form of old in 2024 and showed signs that he is still up to the task of fighting for championships.
There could be fireworks between the Ducati riders if the fight gets close for the title, but that’s something the team acknowledged they may have to manage after they signed Marquez.
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