Francesco Bagnaia expects to fight for the 2025 MotoGP world champion crown against Marc Marquez, he mentioned during the presentation of the official Ducati team. Summary of his statements.
The approach of a season without being the world champion: “It’s not that different because the goal is always to win. What changes is not having the number 1 on the fairing, but I want to put it back. I want to run with this number next year. Given what happened last season, finding myself racing with number 63 gave me a lot to think about, as I proved I was the strongest but it wasn't not enough, so we still need to improve. »
Reduce the number of falls: “Last year I won 11 Grands Prix. If I had won 10 and fallen one less time, I would have been champion. It's not a question of pure performance, but something else. (…) I spent hours analyzing and reviewing my mistakes and my worst races, several times. At first I wanted to be as far away from it as possible, but I realized that sometimes it's better to wait. It wasn't always my fault but it is true that in several situations, I could have not crashed, and with these points I could have won the title. So I have to improve, even if sometimes I crashed when I was calm, like in Barcelona and Sepang. »
His rival for the title: “It's always difficult to give names before the start of the season, but from what I saw last year and the bike he has, Marc will be the toughest rival. I think he will be the main opponent, and if I now imagine how the championship will go, I think of him and me for victory. »
-The four brands facing Ducati: “With one fewer team (than in 2024), it will be more difficult for Ducati to repeat last year's results. KTM has very competitive riders, notably Acosta, but we will have to see their situation. Aprilia has the world champion (Jorge Martin) and Bezzecchi, two riders with a lot of desire. It's hard to know what the Japanese will do, but Yamaha already made a good step forward at the end of last year, and I expect Honda to improve. »
The “dream team” formed with Marc Marquez: “We’ll see, we’ll know later! For the moment we are working together to get to know each other and arrive at the first test with clear ideas. The new bike will certainly be better than the prototype tested in Barcelona. I find motivation in everything. The arrival of Marc is a change, like when Bastianini arrived. The difference is that Marc has won 8 titles and is a great example in terms of sporting success. I will try to beat him, but also learn from him. I won't change my approach because Marc is here, I just want to beat everyone to become world champion. »
