Marquez: 2025 MotoGP title battle will not be between simply me and Bagnaia

Marc Marquez doesn’t suppose the 2025 MotoGP season shall be a duopoly between him and Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, regardless of the favored perception.

Ducati is anticipated to dominate MotoGP till the tip of the present guidelines cycle on the again of its stellar 2024 season, wherein it received 19 out of the 20 grands prix.

However whereas its victories have been cut up between 4 riders this yr, the departures of Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini have left new signing Marquez and two-time champion Bagnaia as the one A-listers in its line-up.

This has led to hypothesis that the 2 shall be engaged in their very own battle for the championship subsequent yr, with a problem unlikely to materialise from inside Ducati or elsewhere on the grid.

Nonetheless, six-time MotoGP champion Marquez has refuted these options, saying there’s a robust likelihood that different riders may even function within the 2025 title battle.

“It will not simply be a championship between Pecco and me,” he mentioned. “It is not simply Ducati that’s racing, however we’ve got to see the evolution of the opposite manufacturers; there’s additionally Jorge Martin with Aprilia, who has received races, and Pedro Acosta with KTM who has additionally been shut. 

“We’ll attempt to give 100%, however I’m conscious that it is going to be very troublesome, and that every part must be excellent to win a world championship.”

Former Honda rider Marquez has signed a multi-year contract with Ducati from 2025 that may see him get entry to the most effective bike on the grid for the primary time in over 5 years.

Given his dominant streak in mid-to-late 2010s that earned him a spot amongst MotoGP’s biggest, many count on him to stroll away with the title subsequent yr.

However the Spaniard, who has made it clear he received’t ever be capable to return to his pre-2020 type after his career-altering arm damage, mentioned it wouldn’t be so easy to outperform Bagnaia in the identical group in 2025.

“They are saying that with the official Ducati I will sweep [the title],” he mentioned. “We’re in MotoGP, the most effective championship, the place the most effective riders are, the place my team-mate has received 11 races this yr, which is lots. 

“The tendency is to have a look at how a lot I’ve received, however in sport, you reside within the current. Yearly younger folks take part.”

In 2025, Marquez will arrive at a group constructed round Bagnaia, who helped Ducati clinch its first title in MotoGP since Casey Stoner’s success in 2007.

This may be a giant change for him from the surroundings he loved at Honda, the place he was the highest canine and acquired beneficial therapy by way of the route the Japanese producer took with the event of the bike.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Staff, Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Picture by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photographs

Requested about his ideas on becoming a member of Bagnaia, he mentioned: “It is a scenario I’ve by no means skilled earlier than, arriving at a field the place there’s a standing, and the one who has the main voice is Pecco. 

“He’s the one who has received two titles [for Ducati] and he have to be the one who units the tone originally of the season and in pre-season. We’ll work to get nearer to him, however he’s the reference. 

“Now, I really feel that it’s time to maintain a low profile. We’ll attempt to work to battle for the title. However I all the time attempt to be real looking. You need to perceive the philosophy of the official Ducati group, and arrive on the field of a rider who’s profitable lots. And if the title might be stolen from him, it is going to be stolen.”