Ducati faces the “challenge” of maintaining “harmony” between Bagnaia and Márquez

While the last few seasons have seen riders from rival teams clash, and in particular the official Ducati structure facing its Pramac team in 2023 and 2024, many elements suggest that the coming season will offer a duel between Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

Both men will represent the brand that has dominated the last few seasons and only a third rider, Fabio Di Giannantonio, will also have the 2025 version of the bike. At the same time, several riders accustomed to shining with Ducati, such as reigning champion Jorge Martín and Enea Bastianini, have left for rival brands who will have to make big progress to fight sustainably.

If the 2025 season were to offer this duel between the drivers who have won eight of the last 12 titles between them, it remains difficult to anticipate the evolution of their relationship. We have seen Márquez partnered with former world champions before, but Jorge Lorenzo struggled to fight with him in 2019 and Honda struggled when he shared the garage with Joan Mir in 2023.

Ducati hopes to maintain good understanding between the two most successful and successful riders on the grid, having managed to maintain a good atmosphere despite struggles between different representatives of the brand in recent years, even if they were most often engaged by different teams.

“For me, the key word for this year is harmony”underlined Mauro Grassilli, the manufacturer's sporting director, during the presentation of Ducati Desmosedici GP25. “I believe enormously in human relations, Ducati takes great care of them and I believe that this is what has been the added value that has led to the results of recent years.”

The man responsible for maintaining this harmony will be Davide Tardozzi, team manager of the official team. The former driver is aware of the difficulty of the task that awaits him but believes in healthy emulation, banking on the good understanding already existing between Bagnaia and Márquez.

“There are going to be some great challenges this year, and my personal challenge is going to be to manage a box bringing together 11 world titles, which is not easy”recognized Tardozzi. “We will see great challenges between Marc and Pecco on the track, as well as with the other Ducati riders and with the other manufacturers who will surely not want to let us dominate like last year. MotoGP is great for that too.”

“I'm not going to change my approach“, promised the leader during a press conference. “In the end, it's much easier to work with champions than with young people. I already know Pecco very well and I'm going to get to know Marc, and once I know them I think it will be very easy. “

“From my point of view, the most important thing is the respect between them. They talk to each other a lot, they work together to try to improve the bike. In the end, it is the track that will say who is in front and who is behind, and whoever is behind will take it as an incentive to improve for the following races. I have no doubt that it will be very easy to work with them.

In 2024, Ducati distinguished itself by continuing to give equal opportunities to Pecco Bagnaia, who officially represented the brand, and Jorge Martín, rider of a satellite team leaving for Aprilia. Bagnaia accepted not having a new chassis which he considered more efficient, Ducati not being able to produce it for all the riders, and Martín himself praised the manufacturer's fair play. For Tardozzi, it will be essential to continue to maintain such fairness between Bagnaia and Márquez, even in the event of opposing demands on a technical level.

“Supporting the drivers is not a problem for us. As we have done in the past, we will support the needs of both drivers, we have the power to do that. We will support these two champions, because we have no not just two drivers but two champions and we are proud to help them. If one or the other takes a different path, we will try to support them as best we can.

“A beautiful story to tell”

And if Ducati's domination of the championship risks being diminished by losing a satellite team, an official motorcycle and riders of the caliber of Jorge Martín and Marco Bezzecchi, Gigi Dall'Igna above all sees a positive signal by associating the most victorious for the brand with the most titles on the grid.

“We have two champions, from my point of view we have in our stand the two best of the 2025 grid”underlined the general director of Ducati Corse. “Pecco is a fantastic rider, who we confirmed at the beginning of last year without thinking twice, because he is the one who brought the riders' title back to Ducati after many years and managed to confirm it l 'following year; a driver who has always been a protagonist for the last four years and who has always fought until the end, so it has never been discussed again.'

“As for Marc, objectively, he is one of the most important riders in modern MotoGP, and perhaps even in all of History. He is a rider who suffered a major injury, who spent the year last with us doing wonderful things, so it's an honor for us to have him on the team no matter how it turns out, considering what we've done so far. here, I think it will be a great story to tell.”

With Lena Buffa