Francesco Bagnaia admits being wary of Marc Marquez on “a competitive bike”

Francesco Bagnaia concedes that Marc Marquez joining Ducati will be the key “difference” to last season.

The headline switch ahead of the 2024 MotoGP season is undoubtedly Marquez swapping his misfiring Honda for a GP23 Ducati with Gresini.

He has played down whether he can immediately swoop for a seventh premier class championship but his rivals are in doubt.

“I see it as a normal year,” Bagnaia told Marca about his title defence.

“The balance will be the same. The difference will be that Marc will have a competitive motorcycle.

“It will take the place of the one before.

“It will be competitive from soon on, that's normal.

"Many riders are competitive. The GP23 he will use is a winning bike, surely better than the one he rode in 2023. We will see."

Bagnaia (and Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli) will step onto a developed GP24.

"Last year's bike was almost perfect, but in some areas it was difficult,” the champion said.

“I suffered some Fridays. It improved in some aspects that we asked for, because our styles are similar.

“I already saw something in Valencia. The improvement was good, but it was Valencia. No It was the best time; Malaysia will be better.”

Pramac’s Martin, riding an identical machine, is expected to return for the title which narrowly evaded him at the final round last year.

“I don't know, he's a strong rider, that's for sure, but it's too early to tell. We will see,” Bagnaia said about Martin’s return.

“It's hard to know. All Ducati are competitive.

“Others will improve, like KTM or Aprilia. It is difficult to predict, we will see.”

Bagnaia edged Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo (who was then the reigning champion) in 2022, then fended off Martin last year.

“It was a more complicated situation with Martin, because he became stronger after Barcelona,” Bagnaia said.

“In 2022, we ended up in a difficult situation because it seemed that we were forced to win and we did.”

Only Marquez and Valentino Rossi have won three MotoGP championships in consecutive seasons, a feat which Bagnaia can achieve this year.