Ducati insists it will be “very easy” to manage Bagnaia and Marquez

Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi is confident it will be “very easy” to manage former world champions Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez as they team up at its factory MotoGP squad this year.

The decision to sign former Honda star Marquez to replace Enea Bastianini has created the kind of ‘dream team’ not seen in MotoGP since both Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo raced as team-mates at Yamaha in the 2010s.

But while Ducati has by far the best line-up on this year’s grid, the very presence of two champions in the same garage has led to concerns about a potential fallout that could disrupt the harmony within the team.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Bagnaia knows Ducati inside-out and has been a key pillar of its success in recent years, while Marquez is still new to the factory and may have to shake things up in order to assert his position in the team.

However, Tardozzi is relaxed about the potential risks from having two alpha personalities in the same team, saying he will continue to manage Ducati riders in the same way he did in the past.

“I will not change my approach because in the end it’s much easier to work with champions than with young kids. I knew Marc very well in those [early] days,” he said at the team launch in Italy.

“I think that it will be very easy [to manage them]. What supports my opinion is the respect they see between them. They speak a lot, they are working together, they are working together to try to improve the bike.

“In the end, it will be the race track [where it will be decided] who is at the front and who is at the back.

“But this is something who is behind will take as stimulation to be better for the following race.

“I think it will be very easy to work with them.”

Ducati did not interfere in the outcome of the 2024 title, allowing Pramac rider Jorge Martin to compete on equal terms with Bagnaia despite the Spaniard having already signed a deal with rival manufacturer Aprilia for 2025.

This year, Marquez and Bagnaia are expected to be the main challengers from the Ducati stable, although Fabio di Giannantonio will also race on the latest GP25 bike at VR46.

Tardozzi again insisted that Ducati will treat all its riders equally in 2025, saying: “I think supporting the riders is not a problem for us.

“As usual we did in the past we will support both riders, their needs and we have the power to do it.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Dorna

“We will support those two champions, not only two riders [but two champions], and we are proud to have them. “

With Marquez back in a factory team after a year racing for Gresini Racing in 2024, he will have a certain say in the development of the new GP25 prototype.

Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna said he will be happy to accommodate the wishes of both Marquez and incumbent Bagnaia if they want to take a different direction with the Desmosedici this year.

“In the first tests, in Barcelona, ​​both of them made the same comments to us about the new evolution of the bike,” said Dall’Igna. “I’m quite surprised by that.

“But for us it’s not a real problem if we have to go different ways. If the riders ask us to, we did it in the past, and we can do it this year as well.

“I don’t think we have a big problem with that.”

Tardozzi reiterated Dall’Igna’s comments, adding: “We will support them in the best way. If one or the other takes a different way, we will try to support him in the best way.”