MotoGP | Bagnaia: “Marquez’s arrival will be great or a disaster”

Since Ducati announced its decision to sign Marc Márquez to its factory team, there has been much speculation about the relationship between the eight-time world champion, who has not won the title since 2019, and the two-time defending champion, who is fighting for his third consecutive crown and is, until proven otherwise, the overall leader of the Bologna-based manufacturer.

Márquez left Honda tired of being out of the fight for victories, a situation he improved this year with the private Ducati satellite team Gresini, where however he has yet to win a race after ten Grands Prix.

But at Ducati, which has data on the performance of each rider on the bike, they claim that the Spaniard has something that has changed the initial approach of elevating Jorge Martin to the factory team, despite the Pramac rider leading the world championship and accumulating victories on Sundays and, above all, Saturdays.

“They opted for Marc, who is the rider with the most titles in the championship. I’m sure he will perform very well. He is already fast. He will have the best team, a bit like now, but being in red, we will certainly have more motivation to be at the top,” Pecco Bagnaia said in a conversation with the championship’s official website.

Many believe that, on a sporting level, Ducati did not need to bring its current top rider into such a high-pressure scenario by putting Marc Márquez in the same garage. Even Valentino Rossi recently stated that “Pecco did not need Marc in the garage to prove he was number one.”

“I think that [la collaborazione] “It could be great or a disaster,” Pecco admits. “We’ll have to see next year when it starts. It could be a disaster if we start shouting or hiding. [certe cose nelle] discussions. But I think we are both very intelligent and he will adapt perfectly,” the Italian suggests.

Bagnaia will not have the data of three rivals

Márquez’s arrival in the official Ducati garage caused a domino effect that left the Bologna-based manufacturer without Jorge Martín, Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi, and in 2025 it went from eight bikes to six, due to the departure of Pramac, and from four complete official bikes to just three, with less data to study.

“Every day, on every circuit, I look at the data of all the riders. For example, in Jerez I looked at Marc’s data and in turns 7 and 8 he was doing a great job, so I followed what he was doing and I made progress,” Pecco explains. “I often look at Martin’s data, regularly at Enea’s and also at Bezzecchi’s. When there are eight riders, it’s the fastest way to progress and that’s positive,” he adds.

“Not having three drivers like them anymore is a big loss, because we are giving three super-fast drivers to the other brands. We will have three more competitors without the possibility of seeing their data,” said the Turin driver.