Key reason given for Marc Marquez advantage over Pecco Bagnaia
Justification provided for picking Marc Marquez
An intriguing reason has been provided to justify that Marc Marquez has an advantage over Francesco Bagnaia this season.
Marquez is joining Bagnaia in the official Ducati garage, giving them equal machinery and the best bike on the grid.
But a MotoGP legend has pointed the finger at Marquez ahead of the title fight commencing.
“They will never be friends with each other," Giacomo Agostini told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"The manufacturer must give both of them the same material and they must be intelligent not to go outside the lines.
“You can put davide Tardozzi or Agostini on the pit wall, but if a rider is in the fight, he only thinks about beating his opponent, finding the overtake and breaking away five meters later.
“Not what they told him in the pits…"
Marc Marquez fancied above Pecco Bagnaia
"We are talking about two great professionals," Agostini said. "One more methodical and inserted in the team, the other more aggressive.
“They will be jealous of each other, I predict a head-to-head.
“Marc is certainly hungrier than Bagnaia. And this could make the difference…”
Read more: Ducati have a big problem - but it’s an even bigger headache for everybody else
Bagnaia has the clear advantage of riding a Ducati - and, indeed, the factory version - for the past four years.
He won the 2022 and 2023 championships and only missed out at the last round in 2024, when Jorge Martin pipped him.
But eight-time world champion Marquez’s genius must never be overlooked.
After one season of adapting from a Honda to a year-old Ducati, he is stepping up to use factory machinery in 2025.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
