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2025 MotoGP Ducati duel: Marc Marquez vs Bagnaia – Hunt or get Hunted

Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia duo are the favourite and the strongest pair of this MotoGP 2025 season. Both are riding for Ducati and will fight for the title.

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Venkatakrishnan
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Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Bagnaia

Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Bagnaia Photograph: (Instagram)

The 2025 MotoGP season will be the first time Marc Marquez will race for the Factory Ducati team. However, having two of the best riders in the same team is a worry for Ducati. By signing Marc Marquez the Ducato Factory team has put the two-time MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia under more pressure. This could be the greatest rider duo in history or the greatest mistake for Ducati.

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Marquez's Journey to Ducati

Marc Marquez Ducati Journey
Marc Marquez Ducati Journey (Photograph: Instagram)

Marquez joined MotoGP in the 2013 season for the Factory Honda team and won the world championship in his rookie season. He continued his success and won 6 world titles until 2019. Then disaster struck in the 2020 season when in Spain he crashed heavily and got a big fracture in his hands. He was out of the season and Honda never recovered from his absence. After returning in the 2021 season he continued with Honda for 3 more seasons till 2023 but couldnt win any titles.

Honda could never make another championship bike, as Ducati started dominating the MotoGP grid in the 2022 season. Francesco Bagnaia won back-to-back titles with the Ducati factory team. The Spaniard made the hardest decision to move to the Gresini Racing team in 2024. It was a satellite team of Ducati so for the first time he rode a Ducati bike. Marquez was given a GP 23 bike while Bagnaia rode a Fresh GP24 bike. 

Performing with an underpowered bike

Marc Marquez Gresini race Win
Marc Marquez Gresini race Win Photograph: (Instagram)

Everybody thought Marc Marquez's MotoGP era was over, so he was signed for just one year. But the spanish rider depends more on his talent than his bike. With his natural ability to overtake and aggressive cornering technique, he scored consistent points for the Gresini racing team.

GP23 bikes have way less power than GP 24 bikes which Bagnaia and world champion Jorge Martin used last year. But even with that bike Marc Marquez performed incredibly well and won 3 races in Aragon, San Marino and Australia. He was also a consistent podium finisher and came third in the drivers championship. So the Ducati Factory team were very impressed with him and signed him ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin.

The Best Duo on the grid

Best Duo MotoGP 25.jpg
Best Duo MotoGP 25.jpg Photograph: (Instagram)

Bagnaia the 2 time world champion was so quick and only his mistake in the Malaysian GP Sprint has cost him the world championship. He also beat his teammate Bastianini most of the time and was the number 1 rider for the team. Marc Marquez joining the team makes Ducati the strongest team in the 2025 MotoGP season against Aprilia and KTM.

'Hunt' or 'get Hunted'

Ducati team Battle.jpg
Ducati team Battle.jpg Photograph: (Instagram)

As a teammate, Pecco Bagnaia won't expect Marc Marquez to be a soft and friendly guy during races. The Spaniard was always known to be aggressive to win races and dominate his teammates. Even his brother Alex Marquez wasn’t spared as he beat him every time and scored more points than him.

Marc Marquez also wants his 7th world title and now he has the best bike on the MotoGP grid. So he won't even give any inch to Bagnaia in races. Francesco Bagnaia will have a tough time this year because first, he has to keep his teammate under check and then fight for his world title. The job for Ducati leadership is going to be even worse as they need their team to be on top and at the same time they need to keep their two riders at bay and avoid unnecessary battles during races.

Bagnaia is always strong in qualifying and race starts which could be an advantage against Marquez. He needs to be clear about his defence and avoid mistakes during races. Having spent more years with the team than Marquez, he will have an advantage inside the team. But everything could change once Marquez starts to win races and bring more points to the team than him. So the Italian has no choice, either hunt Marc Marquez or get hunted by him.

Also Read: Ducati unveils 2025 MotoGP bike in Italy with Bagnaia and Marc Marquez

MOTOGP Francesco Bagnaia Marc Marquez Ducati
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