Márquez remains cautious: “You have to be wary of everyone”

Who could beat Ducati this season? Objectively, no one. In any case, this is what the figures for recent years suggest, and particularly the level reached in 2024 where only one Grand Prix has escaped Gigi Dall'Igna's troops, the one won by Aprilia. Added to this are a handful of sprint race victories and pole positions gleaned by the competition, no more.

However, Marc Márquez, a newcomer to the Ducati factory team, reminds us from the height of his experience that you should never start a season with the feeling of success acquired in advance. He believes that each of the four other brands involved in the championship could well pull successful developments out of their hat allowing them to come together and become threatening again.

“It could be dangerous to think that Ducati is going to win the championship,” he warns. “As a team, we consider that the other manufacturers are at the same level because we are in MotoGP. We know that Yamaha improved last year and they could arrive in Malaysia with a new bike, and then they have Quartararo, who is a super good rider, same for KTM, Aprilia and Honda. We are in MotoGP. What I learned when I fought against. [Ducati] with Dovizioso in 2017, you have to be wary of everyone because from one year to the next, the situation can change.”

Despite the transfer of reigning champion Jorge Martín to Aprilia, the two riders of the Ducati team are huge favorites with the bookmakers. Pecco Bagnaia makes no mistake in preparing for a duel against his new teammate, and Marc Márquez admits that he too really wants to rediscover the exhilaration of a fight for the title.

“Being in the official team this year means that we will have to fight for the title from the first race,” he points out to the official MotoGP website. “The main objective is going to be to have fun, because when you have fun everything else follows from that. But I will always have one eye on the title and I will try to work with the team so that we are more and more competitive.”

A compromise to be found between risks and victories

Asked what the recipe could be for winning the championship this year, Marquez replied: “Be fast, be the smartest, win races, don't fall! Jokes aside, we know what it takes to be champion, but it's all about speed. When you have speed, you can cross a no more.”

If he knows that this balance between the quest for victories and the fact of not wasting points in falls will be essential, it is because he had plenty of time to analyze what was lacking last year to his new teammate. And although he makes it his reference, Márquez also knows that Bagnaia showed his Achilles heel in his duel against Jorge Martín and that must serve as a lesson.

“My teammate will be the one who finished first and second in the last four years, so he is super strong and it will be normal for him to be at the front, especially in the first races. Last year he won 11 races. Certainly, he made mistakes, but you don't win 11 races without taking risks, it's always a compromise”, underlines the Spaniard, who has not been titled since 2019.

“I arrive in a garage where there is a rider who has won two titles, who is super fast, who has only ridden Ducatis so who knows very well how to manage it and resolve problems. We have often seen Pecco being left behind on Friday, then becoming the fastest from one session to the next, so I will try to learn alongside him because he has a lot of experience on the Ducati.

“As I said, I will try to understand how I can find the best level with my riding style within the Ducati Lenovo team and then we will see. But the main objective will be to be among the top three at the end of the championship. Obviously, we will try to stay focused on the title but the main objective will be the top 3.”