Everyone ‘rolled their eyes’ when Marc Marquez said one thing at Ducati press conference

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Marc Marquez hasn’t won the MotoGP world championship since 2019. But that’s not a reflection on his performance levels.

Marquez broke his arm ahead of the season-opening Spanish GP in 2020. He’s since had to undergo multiple surgeries, and the injuries will never fully heal.

In the same period, Honda were entering a decline. Marquez realised that he had to leave to compete at the front, and he watched his old team finish bottom of the championship last year.

The Spaniard joined a satellite team for the first time in his MotoGP career. But Gresini was always intended to a brief stop on his route to a Ducati factory ride.

Fit again and back on a competitive bike, Marquez was excellent last season. He briefly looked like a title-race dark horse on the Desmosedici GP23, eventually finishing 116 points behind champion Jorge Martin.

Pound-for-pound, he was arguably the best rider on the grid last year. And that’s partly why he earned the Ducati promotion at the expense of Martin.

Marc Marquez’s 2025 season objective drew ‘smirks’ in Ducati audience

Marquez is well-placed to equal Valentino Rossi’s haul of seven premier-class titles this year. Ducati won all but one race last year, including the Sprints.

After a year of experience on the troublesome Michelin rear, their rivals should close up. What’s more, Ducati will lose the data-gathering capacity of Pramac, who have switched to Yamaha.

But given that there won’t be a major regulation change until 2027, there’s little reason to think that Ducati won’t extend their title streak. They’ve won every constructors’ crown since 2020.

Many are expecting an intra-team battle between Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia. They were surprised then – if not outright indignant – when the former claimed he only wanted to finish in the top three this season.

Speaking on the Paddock Pass podcast, journalist Neil Morrison said: “Again, he was trying to play down expectations, saying that top three in the championship is the aim for the year, at which point I think everybody in the press conference rolled their eyes and gave a little smirk as if to say ‘what are you on today?’.

“I think it would have been unlikely that either of them would have come out with anything rash.”

Marc Marquez knows the biggest threat to Ducati – and it’s not Jorge Martin

If it wasn’t just a PR move, Marquez’s answer suggests he sees an external threat. VR46 will become the second-in-command team at Ducati, but Fabio Di Giannantonio, who will ride the GP25 bike, is recovering from a shoulder injury and only boasts one MotoGP win to date.

Jorge Martin is more focused on teammate Marco Bezzecchi than he is on Marquez or Bagnaia. He views his move to Aprilia as a long-term play.

Instead, Marquez may fear Pedro Acosta. His compatriot finished an excellent sixth in the standings as a rookie, and his evolution could make him a factor, provided KTM’s financial woes don’t destabilise the second-best bike on the grid.

Marquez will implement the ‘Max Verstappen formula’ at Ducati this year, keen to be liked off track but bully his opponents when the visor is down. Staying humble in interviews will protect his reputation.