“Manipulate” claim made about Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi

Marc Marquez can demonstrate his important quality of “manipulating” a garage to suit his needs this year, it has been claimed.

It is a quality he shares with his fierce rival Valentino Rossi.

Marquez denied Rossi’s protege, and his new factory Ducati teammate, Pecco Bagnaia at last weekend’s Thailand MotoGP.

Marquez won on his debut in red to send shockwaves through MotoGP about what he might be capable of in 2025, aboard the best machinery in the sport.

Key to his fate - and to Bagnaia’s - could be how Ducati treat their two star riders.

Manipulation claim made about Marc Marquez

“People at home will think about Marc: arrogance, because of his behaviour on track,” TNT Sports’ Neil Hodgson assessed.

“But he’s a people person, he’s a real team player.

“He’s really good - this sounds harsh - at manipulating the team around him.

“I underline that by saying it’s part of the job.

“You want all the guys in the team to fight for you. Marc is the master of that.

“Do you know who was better than him, or as good as him? Valentino.

“Valentino could manipulate a team around him very well.”

Rossi, alongside Jorge Lorenzo at Yamaha, was involved in a combustible alliance.

Marquez and Bagnaia, and Ducati themselves, have downplayed any comparisons to Yamaha’s classic fiery duo.

Marquez claimed before romping to victory at Buriram that he would treat Bagnaia as a reference point on the GP25 due to his greater experience of the bike.

It was a cryptic comment which caught the eye.

“It’s not his first rodeo! He knows how to play the press, and a garage,” Hodgson noted.

“He’s very good at turning the garage he works in all onto his side. They loved him at Gresini and at Honda.

“Now he’s got the ultimate challenge of turning Bagnaia’s garage into a Marc Marquez garage.

“Pecco won their first MotoGP title since Casey Stoner in 2007. An Italian on their bike winning the championship was huge. They love Pecco at Ducati.

“But one thing I know is that Ducati love winners.”

The writing was perhaps on the wall at the Thailand MotoGP upon Marquez’s arrival.

“Nerves come when you turn up knowing that you can win a race,” Michael Laverty noted.

“He did sometimes at Gresini. At Aragon he probably arrived confidently. But he was always on the back foot on the older machine.

“Now, he’s got the best tools on the planet at his disposal, and the best engineers.

“The swagger in how he walks around the paddock? He is confident.”