Francesco Bagnaia confirms he had no say in Ducati’s decision to sign Marc Marquez

Francesco Bagnaia starts this weekend’s Dutch MotoGP as the favourite after winning the last two grand prix’ in Assen.

However, all the pre-weekend talk surrounded Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez, both of whom were asked several questions about their latest moves.

Marquez was signed instead of Martin to partner Bagnaia for the 2025 and 26 seasons, and Bagnaia, who had previously backed Enea Bastianini as his preference to stay, admits he had no impact in Ducati’s decision.

“From my perspective, I wasn’t included in the decision because it’s something I asked,” said Bagnaia.

“I just wanted to be focused on the race track and in both cases it was more or less the same situation. Both Jorge and Marc are really fast.

“At this moment Jorge has more feeling with the bike and more experience with the bike and is faster.

“But it was more or less very similar in terms of the speed of my [new] team-mate. For me it is a new challenge and a new team-mate to beat. It will be fun.

“Marc is a very smart guy and will understand perfectly how to work with the team to improve our situation again.”

During his early years in the paddock Bagnaia shared a motorhome for two seasons with Martin.

Familiarity is something Bagnaia has championed for on several occasions when working together as riders to improve the bike.

But while Marquez is still quite new to Ducati, Bagnaia believes the eight-time world champion will adapt in a way that helps the team.

Bagnaia added: “With Marc it is a new adventure. It is totally new and we don’t know each other. We will discover next year.”