Jorge Lorenzo says Ducati are too smart to make the same Marc Marquez mistake as Honda

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Marc Marquez has made the Ducati team his own since his promotion from Gresini over the winter. With six wins from 10 Grands Prix, he’s cruising to the world championship.

Marquez has stretched his lead over his brother Alex to 68 points, almost the equivalent of two perfect weekends. He’s set to tie Valentino Rossi with a seventh premier-class title and a ninth overall.

While he’s unquestionably the biggest superstar on the current grid, he was expected to face a stronger challenge from teammate Francesco Bagnaia. Bagnaia has spent his entire MotoGP career on Desmosedici motorcycles, delivering the world championship in 2022 and 2023.

But with 10 rounds gone, Bagnaia finds himself a whopping 126 points behind. Marquez leads 24-4 in the competitive sessions where both riders have been classified.

Jorge Lorenzo doubts Ducati will become overreliant on Marc Marquez

Bagnaia finds himself in the same position as Marquez’s Honda teammates. While Dani Pedrosa battled him for the title in 2013, he couldn’t get close in 2014, ’16, ’17 or ’18.

Jorge Lorenzo joined in 2019 but couldn’t even crack the top 10 as Marquez romped to the title. Lorenzo decided to retire at the end of the year after a serious accident at Assen.

Of course, Marquez’s talent was a big part of the reason the deficit was so consistently large. But Honda naturally focused on the development of the bike on his preferences too.

The Marquez-centric approach contributed to a glorious dynasty, but also condemned the brand to obscurity during his injury years. They’re still trying to recover, 18 months on from his exit, but Lorenzo is confident Ducati won’t make the same mistake.

“Ducati does not only listen to the factory team, but it has meetings involving VR46 as well,” he explained to GPOne. “It is a very analytical brand and it analyses all the riders very well, so I don’t think it will only listen to Marquez.

“He certainly has a very extreme riding style and very different from a standard rider but, if they would listen to him, it is also true that he has a lot of experience and he is one of the veterans of the category, so he will definitely be improved a lot in that aspect as well.”

Luigi Dall’Igna’s Marc Marquez concerns are likely to be ignored

Lorenzo says Alex Marquez is ready to join the Ducati factory team based on his performances this year. That would surely strengthen his brother’s influence.

The Gresini rider has been accused of making life too easy for his sibling in wheel-to-wheel combat. This season has shown that he can put him under pressure but is perhaps reliant on a mistake to beat him.

Indeed, Alex’s maiden MotoGP victory in Spain came after Marc went down. He also blew a win in Austin by crashing out of the lead.

Mat Oxley says Luigi Dall’Igna needs to calm Marquez down, particularly after two alarming practice shunts in Assen. But he doubts the veteran team boss will have any success – it’s simply the way the championship leader is hardwired.