Ducati deny that Valentino Rossi could influence factory team harmony

Ducati insist Valentino Rossi cannot negatively impact the harmony inside their factory garage.

Rossi’s protege Francesco Bagnaia has welcomed Rossi’s most heated rival Marc Marquez this year.

The potential for awkwardness as Bagnaia and Marquez fight for the MotoGP championship, while respecting their manufacturer’s policies, is exacerbated by Rossi’s potential input.

"Not at all, because Pecco thinks for himself,” Ducati’s Davide Tardozzi told Motosan.

“I know very well that within the VR46 group, Pecco says what he thinks and not what others would like to hear.

“Valentino and those close to him have their own ideas, and Pecco shares some of them, but not all. He has his own discernment and follows his ideas."

Tardozzi denied that Bagnaia will feel jealousy by the media and sponsor interest in Marquez’s arrival.

"No. If Marc had signed for another manufacturer, the media would have been equally interested in him,” Tardozzi claimed.

“Pecco knows where his place is at Ducati, he has a solid group around him, he has the credibility of a double MotoGP World Champion, he trusts us because he knows that we are doing everything possible for him and that the arrival of Marc is not going to take anything away from him."

Tardozzi insisted that Bagnaia and Marquez can form a strong partnership despite their individual goals.

"What I liked was that during the Barcelona test in November, their feedback and the answers they gave to the engineers were very similar,” he said.

“And that's without having spoken to each other before. And while they don't have exactly the same riding style, they're two very good riders at braking and going into corners."

Bagnaia and Marquez have been described as the best-ever MotoGP rider partnership.

"Even if we are the favourites, we respect all our rivals,” Tardozzi insisted.

“And everything is at stake. We're going to have to beat riders who can be better than us at the beginning of the season.

“We won in 2022, 2023 and 2024, but for 2025 we are starting from scratch. As I said, the competition has been strengthened with riders who were with us last year, and that will help them progress."