Marc Marquez explains the reason why he won’t fall out with Pecco Bagnaia
Marquez sheds light on intra-team Ducati relationship
Marc Marquez says factory Ducati MotoGP team-mate Francesco Bagnaia is “a gentleman” off-track but is “the biggest warrior” on it.
Ducati has assembled its strongest factory team line-up ever and arguably one of the best in MotoGP history, as it pairs six-time premier class champion Marquez with double title winner Bagnaia.
It’s a move that forced Ducati to lose 2024 world champion Jorge Martin to Aprilia and satellite team Pramac to Yamaha, while the VR46 camp was thought to have been unhappy also by this last summer.
Read more: Why Ducati is doing anything but standing still after engine backtrack
Many are expecting fallout to come in 2025, with the pair having clashed at the Portuguese Grand Prix last year and rubbed fairings in the Spanish GP.
Speaking in a television interview with El Hormiguero, Marquez says his approach with rivals now is different to how it used to be and praised new team-mate Bagnaia’s character.
“If you put two roosters in the same pen at 22 or 25 years old, [it’s] bad,” he said.
“It's a bomb. But I think he's 27 and I'm 32. Apart from that, Pecco is a gentleman, he's calm.
“We've worked together during the pre-season, we've shared many conversations to get the best possible bike.
“But we both know that, from the first race to the last, each one will look out for their own interests on the track.
“But then, off the track... I know how to differentiate.
“When I was 20, I didn't know how to differentiate that. It was a matter of life or death.
“When I was 20, it was like now, but a little worse.
“But in this way, there is unity within the team.
“Pecco is a gentleman, he never raises his voice or anything.
“But then, on the track, he is the biggest warrior.
“If he has to put his bike on you, as he has to, he will put it on you. But that's how he is.”
Marquez ended the final pre-season test of 2025 in Thailand fastest of all, turning heads with an impressive race simulation.
Ducati will race with its 2024 engine for the next two years having been unable to get the necessary performance out of the 2025 version under braking to homologate that one.
It is also set to start the year on 2024 aero and chassis designs, though the 2025 versions of these will be evaluated again at the post-Spains GP test at the end of April.
