Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati have carried their momentum into 2025 and looked mighty during MotoGP’s pre-season testing at Sepang and Buriram.
Signing Marc Marquez was a big statement of intent from the Italian manufacturer, who won 36/40 races on offer last season without the six-time champion in their ranks.
Ducati have made the bold decision to abandon its GP25 and compete with its GP24 for the coming season after failing to make both riders comfortable under braking.
Francesco Bagnaia, who has competed for the championship in each of the last four seasons will face the strongest competition that he has in recent times.
Marquez may already be playing mind games with Bagnaia after testing, after starting on a stronger note than his Italian teammate.
Ducati engineers were flabbergasted that Marquez couldn’t do one thing – which was complete a good practice start at all during testing.
Davide Tardozzi admits Marc Marquez was ‘nowhere near’ 100% during MotoGP testing
Marquez finished top of the pile on the second and final day of testing in Buriram ahead of the season-opening Grand Prix of Thailand.
He couldn’t have had a much better start to life at his new team and has looked comfortable on his bike without incident since day one.
READ MORE: Marc Marquez says his MotoGP critics are completely wrong about one thing
Neil Morrison mentioned that his boss Davide Tardozzi has hinted that the Spaniard was far from pushing during race simulation runs where he looked dominant.
“I spoke to Jack Appleyard who was fronting the After the Flag show,” he said.
“He was speaking to Davide Tardozzi with quite a lot of frequency over the couple of days, and I think after Marc’s race simulation, Tardozzi heavily indicated that he was nowhere near pushing at 100%, which also gives you an idea that there is still more to come.”
What Marc Marquez found ‘strange’ about his first photos as a Ducati rider
After spending 10 years at Honda, Marquez made the brave move to transfer to a Duacti bike with Gresini in 2024.
It paid off for him, as he claimed three race victories on his way to finishing third in the riders’ championship.
He has spent most of his career in orange and blue, so switching to red for 2025 was an unfamiliar experience for him.
Marquez found his first photos in Ducati factory colours ‘strange’ and admitted that it would take some time to get used to.
His first task is to win in red to build some confidence and make a strong start to what is expected to be a championship-contending season for him.
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