DUCATI CONFIDENT IT CAN AVERT "DISASTER" AS MARQUEZ JOINS BAGNAIA IN 2025

Ducati's general manager Gigi Dall'Igna is convinced that the Italian marque will be able to manage both Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez at its factory MotoGP team next year.

Ever since Ducati signed six-time premier class champion Marquez to partner reigning double champion Bagnaia for 2025, there have been question marks about how the two will get along with each other at the same team.

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The Borgo Panigale marque has by far the best bike on the grid and it's likely that next year's title will be fought exclusively between its riders, leaving the possibility of tensions flaring up as Marquez and Bagnaia set to battle on equal machinery for the first time in MotoGP.

However, Dall'Igna sees no reason why Ducati should be concerned about having two alpha personalities in the same garage.

On the contrary, he thinks it will be a chance for the brand to extend its dominance in MotoGP in the final two years of the current regulations cycle.

"They are two of the best riders of the championship, but for sure their characters are really, really strong so it's important that we can manage them very well during the next year," he told the official MotoGP website.

"But honestly I'm quite confident that we can manage that and I hope that it will not be a disaster but the perfect year for Ducati."

While admitting they have strong personalities which have the potential to cause problems, Dall'Igna was full of praise for both Bagnaia and Marquez for what both have achieved in their careers so far.

Gigi Dall'Igna, Ducati Corse General Manager

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia is now the most successful rider in Ducati history, while Marquez's back-to-back victories in Aragon and Misano with a year-old Gresini bike are seen as a sign that there is more to come from him in the coming years.

"Pecco is one of the most important riders in Ducati history and probably the most important because nobody won two riders championships [with Ducati]," Dall'Igna said.

"Ducati is a different bike in comparison with the [Honda] bike [Marquez] rode for all his career. He adapted quite well and quite soon honestly.

"He is an eight-time world champion so he is one of the most important riders of the history of the MotoGP and I think it's the reason why he performed so well with our bike."

Pramac rider Jorge Martin leads Bagnaia by just seven points heading to this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Misano, but others have an outside shot.

These include Marquez and factory Ducati rider Enea Bastianini, who will make way for the Spaniard next season.

Dall'Igna reiterated that Ducati will ensure all four riders will get equal tools to battle for the championship, even as Martin and Bastianini prepare to leave for Aprilia and KTM respectively next season.

"We are really really happy and proud honestly of the job that we did," he said. "We have four riders in the front of all the others.

Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

"We have a lot of riders that can fight and try to win at the end of the weekend.

"Pecco and Martin will be the two contenders, but also Enea and Marc have some chance to achieve the results.

"We give to all of them the best possible chance to reach their goals, this is our job from the beginning to the end of the season and we will do that."

2024-09-19T09:31:17Z dg43tfdfdgfd