Fear of notorious garage ‘wall’ dismissed for Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia

Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia’s uneasy alliance next year could be fiery - but fear of another notorious ‘wall’ from Yamaha’s garage has been shot down.

Ducati’s factory team will pair Marquez and Bagnaia together in 2025, arguably the most high-profile duo since Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

Rossi and Lorenzo’s rivalry became so heated they required a wall - in one of MotoGP’s most infamous chapters - to divide their garage and separate their data.

“I don’t think it’s going to get to that,” broadcaster Simon Crafar said about Marquez and Bagnaia next season.

He insisted Ducati will not allow the type of feud that Rossi and Lorenzo had: “Marc is experiencing it now, Pecco knows how it works. The data is open.

“All work together for a common goal. Then it’s down to you, the individual rider, to make a difference.

“That doesn’t mean it will be plain-sailing in the garage.

“I can put money on that it won’t be easy in the garage!”

Pramac’s Jorge Martin - who lost out on the 2025 factory seat to Marquez so will join Aprilia instead - has an 18-point lead heading into this weekend’s Dutch MotoGP.

Bagnaia, the reigning champion, is second with Gresini’s Marquez third and still awaiting a first win on a Ducati.

But after a three-week break there is already fervent speculation inside the paddock about how Marquez and Bagnaia will cope alongside each other next year.

“It’s not going to be easy, there’s no doubt,” Crafar said.

“The best riders are not the best teammates, throughout history.

“Marc won’t be easy. He wants to crush his opposition.

“In my time it was Mick Doohan. The same, he would have been a nightmare as a teammate! He wants to smash you into the ground!

“It’s part of the ingredient that makes them so awesome and so successful.

“I hope Ducati can manage it to get the best out of both of their riders.

“I believe they want that.”