Ducati riders have their say: Marc Marquez ‘will battle for the championship’

Marquez has sealed his much-anticipated move to Gresini Ducati for the 2024 MotoGP season, taking Ducati’s already stellar line-up of riders to new heights.

The eight-time world champion will be using the same machinery as Bagnaia and Martin this season, both of whom are contending for the title aboard the GP23 bike.

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• Official: Marc Marquez joins Gresini Ducati

And although Marquez will be on a year-old bike compared to both riders, Bagnaia is expecting Marquez to be very quick from the outset.

Bagnaia said: “Three or four months ago it was unbelievable [that he would join Ducati] but in the last period it was clear that this was going in this direction. 

“I was saying in the press conference after the race in Japan what I was thinking! It’s good for us, good for the sport. 

“Marc will find a good base, the best base, on our bike. It will feel comfortable and won’t take too much time to be better and faster than his situation right now. 

“It will be nice to share data with him, it will be interesting to see what he’s doing. But it will be good competition for him. We are eight riders, very competitive, and it will be interesting…”

When asked if Marquez will be a contender for the title, Bagnaia didn’t rule out the possibility, although he wasn’t in the mood to crown Marquez as his main rival.

“The first approach will be in Valencia,” began Bagnaia. “He will lead the test because he will try different things, he’ll try the time attack with our bike. 

“Our bike adapts to all riding styles, it’s a very predictable bike. Next year we’ll have a very good bike, you can brake very hard which we already does with the Honda. 

“The engine is fast. I don’t know if he’ll fight for the championship but he’ll be in the top five, for sure.”

Martin on the other hand is convinced that Marquez will be a title contender: “We have to wait for Valencia then the first race in Qatar. But I feel like he’ll be battling for the championship, for sure.”

“Big challenge for us and for him” 

Martin, who has been the in-form rider of late after completing a third double of the season at Motegi, sees Marquez joining Ducati as a big challenge for the Italian brand’s current riders, but also for Marquez after he’s spent his entire MotoGP career with Honda.

“It will be a big challenge for us and for him. After a lot of years, to change bikes is not easy. The bike is great, for sure he’ll adapt fast. 

“It’s a big challenge for us because it’s the only way to compare us to Marc, one of the greatest from history, and it will be interesting to learn from him and to see his data.”

One rider who knows exactly the type of team Marquez will be joining, is Enea Bastianini, who won four races for Gresini in 2022.

“He will be fast, I know this! I remember the first year when I spoke with Nadia about Alex, and I said he’d be fast from the start,” stated Bastianini. “[Marc] is an incredible talent. For me, it will be a problem from the first race!”