Ducati team member launches ‘dig’ at ungrateful Enea Bastianini when discussing Marc Marquez

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Marc Marquez has already won as many races for Ducati as Enea Bastianini did in the whole of last season. And now Bastianini has seen his attitude questioned by his former team.

Ducati announced in early June last year that Marquez would join the factory team alongside Francesco Bagnaia. It was already clear that Bastianini would lose his seat, with Pramac’s Jorge Martin also heavily linked.

The Italian would go on to win at Silverstone and Misano, but he still finished a whopping 122 points adrift of world champion Martin in the standings. He now finds himself representing the struggling KTM at Tech3.

Bastianini sits 14th in the championship after the opening two rounds, having scored just seven points. His replacement Marquez has, by contrast, picked up maximum points.

Ducati figure says Marc Marquez has already been more thankful than Enea Bastianini

Speaking to Motorsport.com, an unnamed Ducati team member praised Marquez’s character. They knew he was a formidable rider but they’ve been surprised by his ‘exceptional’ impact behind the scenes too.

They went on to point out that Marquez has thanked the team more than Bastianini did in two full seasons. La Bestia spent the first four years of his MotoGP career on Desmosedici motorcycles, graduating from Gresini at the end of 2022.

“We already knew Marquez the rider – he’s a phenomenon,” they said. “But we’ve now discovered Marc the person, and he’s even more exceptional. In just a couple of races, he has thanked us for our work more times than the previous rider did in two years.”

Carlo Pernat predicted that Bastianini was in ‘trouble’ before the season started. The 26-year-old split with his veteran manager over the winter.

Neil Hodgson feels sorry for Enea Bastianini after what he spotted in Argentina

Bastianini predicted that Ducati could face complications after signing Marquez. He foresaw plenty of close on-track battles with Bagnaia.

So far, though, the two-time world champion hasn’t been able to touch his new teammate. He finished third in the first three events and slipped to fourth in the Argentina Grand Prix last Sunday.

There is hope that Bagnaia will come into his own in Qatar and Spain, presenting a renewed challenge to Marquez. But right now, an intense intra-team rivalry looks unlikely to develop.

Meanwhile, Neil Hodgson feels sorry for Bastianini, as well as his Tech3 partner Maverick Vinales, after noticing their ‘body language’ on the Termas de Rio Hondo grid. They qualified 21st and 20th respectively.