Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati have managed to assemble one of the most formidable rider line-ups in MotoGP history as they chase another title in 2025.
As if winning 90% (36/40) of the races on offer with their machinery wasn’t enough last season, they opted to add to their factory team ahead of the new season.
Two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia, who missed out on the 2024 crown by just 10 points will have a new teammate.
He’s joined by the legendary Marc Marquez, who beat reigning champion Jorge Martin to the seat at Ducati.
Marquez managed to win as many races as Martin on a one-year-old GP23 bike last year in his return to the front of the field.
2025 offers him the latest machinery, as well as his first chance to compete for a title since he claimed his sixth and final triumph with Honda back in 2019. His new partnership with Bagnaia could produce fireworks.
Uccio Salucci says Ducati will need to be ‘brave’ in Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia battle
Marquez and Bagnaia had a tense exchange at the 2024 Grand Prix of Portugal after clashing with each other late in the race.
They cannot afford to repeat that sort of incident now they are teammates. The past has to be put behind them.
Both are fierce competitors and champions, which brings a unique set of challenges for Ducati to manage.
Bagnaia is envious of Marquez’s dirty track talents and the two will be keen to learn from each other this season – something which may make the factory outfit even stronger in the long term.
READ MORE: Ducati engineer pinpoints one Francesco Bagnaia trait that Marc Marquez must adopt in 2025
But Valentino Rossi’s right-hand man Uccio Salucci believes that their team will have to be brave in their management of their battle.
“He will have to be very brave to manage that box with two very strong drivers, the rest will be seen,” he told the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com. “Personally, I think Pecco is a really strong driver.
“There are strong pilots and very strong pilots, and I see Pecco from the latter, from those who have something more.”
Will Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez have a good Ducati relationship in 2025?
Bagnaia finds Marquez’s arrival at Ducati very beautiful for the team, aware that the move bolsters their chance to win.
Their battle could come down to whoever makes the least mistakes, with the Italian rider’s 2024 campaign hampered by needless accidents.
Bagnaia spent his honeymoon haunted by his 2024 errors and he won’t want to spend another off-season thinking about what could have been for his hopes of a third title.
READ MORE: Marco Melandri names the strange reason Francesco Bagnaia is making mistakes that ‘cost him dearly’
With a bit more luck, he could have been a four-time MotoGP champion by now (if 2021 and 2024 had gone in his favour).
Marquez shared the real reason for Bagnaia’s mistakes, coming to the defence of his new teammate and reminding the media that risks must be taken at the highest level.
Maybe it’s a sign that they’re on each other’s side now, and are prepared to do whatever it takes to bring victories home as a team.
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