Marc Marquez doesn’t suppose the 2025 MotoGP season can be a duopoly between him and Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, regardless of the favored perception.
Ducati is predicted to dominate MotoGP till the top of the present guidelines cycle on the again of its stellar 2024 season, through which it gained 19 out of the 20 grands prix.
However whereas its victories had been break up between 4 riders this 12 months, the departures of Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini have left new signing Marquez and two-time champion Bagnaia as the one A-listers in its line-up.
This has led to hypothesis that the 2 can be engaged in their very own battle for the championship subsequent 12 months, with a problem unlikely to materialise from inside Ducati or elsewhere on the grid.
Nevertheless, six-time MotoGP champion Marquez has refuted these options, saying there’s a sturdy probability that different riders may also function within the 2025 title combat.
“It will not simply be a championship between Pecco and me,” he mentioned. “It isn’t simply Ducati that’s racing, however we’ve to see the evolution of the opposite manufacturers; there’s additionally Jorge Martin with Aprilia, who has gained races, and Pedro Acosta with KTM who has additionally been shut.
“We’ll attempt to give 100%, however I’m conscious that it will likely be very troublesome, and that all the things must be good to win a world championship.”
Marc Marquez, Ducati Group
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Former Honda rider Marquez has signed a multi-year contract with Ducati from 2025 that may see him get entry to the perfect bike on the grid for the primary time in over 5 years.
Given his dominant streak in mid-to-late 2010s that earned him a spot amongst MotoGP’s biggest, many count on him to stroll away with the title subsequent 12 months.
However the Spaniard, who has made it clear he gained’t ever be capable of return to his pre-2020 type after his career-altering arm harm, mentioned it wouldn’t be so easy to outperform Bagnaia in the identical group in 2025.
“They are saying that with the official Ducati I will sweep [the title],” he mentioned. “We’re in MotoGP, the perfect championship, the place the perfect riders are, the place my team-mate has gained 11 races this 12 months, which is loads.
“The tendency is to take a look at how a lot I’ve gained, however in sport, you reside within the current. Yearly younger folks take part.”
In 2025, Marquez will arrive at a group constructed round Bagnaia, who helped Ducati clinch its first title in MotoGP since Casey Stoner’s success in 2007.
This is able to be a giant change for him from the setting he loved at Honda, the place he was the highest canine and obtained beneficial therapy by way of the course the Japanese producer took with the event of the bike.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Group, Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing
Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Pictures
Requested about his ideas on becoming a member of Bagnaia, he mentioned: “It is a state of affairs I’ve by no means skilled earlier than, arriving at a field the place there’s a standing, and the one who has the main voice is Pecco.
“He’s the one who has gained two titles [for Ducati] and he have to be the one who units the tone originally of the season and in pre-season. We’ll work to get nearer to him, however he’s the reference.
“Now, I really feel that it’s time to preserve a low profile. We’ll attempt to work to combat for the title. However I all the time attempt to be practical. You need to perceive the philosophy of the official Ducati team, and arrive on the field of a rider who’s successful loads. And if the title might be stolen from him, it will likely be stolen.”
On this article
Rachit Thukral
MotoGP
Marc Marquez
Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati Group
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