Bagnaia certain Ducati team-mate Marquez will be his main rival for 2025 MotoGP title

Francesco Bagnaia is convinced that Marc Marquez will pose the biggest challenge in his pursuit of a third MotoGP title in 2025.

Bagnaia and Marquez will team up at the factory Ducati team this year, with the latter having been signed by the squad to replace Tech3-bound Enea Bastianini.

Although Marquez has made it clear that he has to target the title in his first season with the team, he also insisted that his main objective is simply to finish inside the championship top three.

However, Bagnaia is aware that the six-time champion is capable of achieving a lot more now that he has got his hands on what is expected to be the best bike on the grid.

While he hasn’t ruled out more riders joining the fray, the Italian reckons the fight for the 2025 title will boil down to him and his new team-mate, who won three races at Gresini last year.

“It’s difficult to know every season who will be [the main contenders] – it’s difficult to name one,” he said.

“But for the reputation of the bike, from what we saw last year, I think Marc will be one of the hardest [rivals], he will be the main contender. 

“He has one more year of experience on our bike. The new bike absolutely suits [us] better because it’s an improvement compared to what he was riding last year and he was already doing an amazing job. He did many podiums [and] he won three races. 

“He will be the main contender and we have to see during the season who are the others but if I have to look and focus on the championship and imagine the championship, me and him could be the two fighting. There could be someone else. But the main two, I think, are us.”

Bagnaia also views the arrival of Marquez as an opportunity to improve his skills on a MotoGP bike. Left-handed corners have always been a key strength for Marquez, while this is exactly the area where Bagnaia feels he has lagged behind in recent years.

“About Marc, it’s absolutely a new thing because we start in a month, but already from last year, try to learn [how he does so well] in left corners that are not easy,” Bagnaia explained.

“What I want to improve from the first test is to try to be competitive in the left corners as I’m in the right corners. This is a really good thing because in the right corners I feel very, very strong and in left corners I miss something.

“What I know is that [having] a champion like him with eight titles – with also titles in difficult situations and not having the best bike – it’s absolutely a motivation for me. [I will] try to also learn to be competitive as it is when things are not ideal.”