Why Ducati is More Bullish Than Ever About its MotoGP Chances in 2025

Ducati was victorious in 19 out of 20 Grand Prix races in 2024, a staggering achievement given the competitiveness of its rivals, but Davide Tardozzi believes 2025 could be even greater for the Italian brand for one major reason.

Enea Bastianini has been moved aside in favour of Marc Marquez, arguably the greatest talent two-wheel racing has ever seen. A MotoGP champion as a rookie while battling the likes of Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa in their prime, plus being an eight-time world champion before the age of 30, it’s maybe hard to argue against Marquez being just that.

Marquez left Honda after many successful seasons to join Gresini Ducati, and to no surprise, the Spaniard was the top independent rider while also being a consistent thorn in the side of Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Bastianini, all of whom were riding the most up-to-date Ducati - in other words, the Desmosedici GP24 while Marquez was riding the older-spec GP23 for the entire 2024 campaign.

It was clear in 2024 that Marquez had not lost any of his magic, and although he might not be quite as consistent as he was a few seasons ago, the seven-time MotoGP champion was still one of the top four riders throughout the year.

With that said, you would have to think that being in a factory team once again in 2025, being more experienced aboard the Ducati and not having Martin or Bastianini to contend with on the same bike, Marquez is a clear favourite for the title.

That’s exactly what Ducati believes will be the case as Marquez joins Bagnaia to form one of the best rider pairings we’ve seen since Rossi and Lorenzo at Yamaha.

But it's not just their riders who will be expected to regain the title for the factory team, as improving the GP25 over the GP24 will not be easy given how much the latter dominated throughout the year.

Speaking to MotoGP.com, Tardozzi said: "We have to take time over the winter with the engineers to make the right steps. Because in 2024 we have a really competitive bike and it will not be so easy to take a step forward.

"On the other hand, we know our competitors are really tough and will be very strong on the rider's side next year. The two Aprilia guys of [Marco] Bezzecchi and Jorge [Martin] will be very tough, and [Maverick] Vinales and [Enea] Bastianini will improve at KTM. On one hand we are really happy, but we will leave our antenna straight!"

Ducati will lose 2024 world champion Martin from its stable of riders in 2025, something of a mini-disaster given he beat Bagnaia to the title in a satellite team, albeit the bikes were the same. Ducati has also lost Bezzecchi, Bastianini and the Pramac team to Yamaha.

But if there’s one rider who you could argue is worth giving up all of that for, Marquez is the name that would jump out at most people, whether that’s choosing a current rider or even a rider from the past.

Marquez took several victories this past season despite being on the older bike and not having the same level of experience as the riders he was battling weekend after weekend with the Ducati bike.

But it's for those reasons that Ducati thinks it not only has a rider in his prime that’s good enough to win races, but also win a title which is why Tardozzi claims Ducati has a ‘dream team’.

But let’s face it, if you have Marquez on your factory bike as a manufacturer, the interest and support you will gain is going to go through the roof, so it’s fair to say his signing is also going to be a very big one away from the track as well.

“We have let some top guys go to other brands, but in the end, I honestly think we have a dream team,” added Tardozzi. “I think that Pecco [Bagnaia] and Marc [Marquez] are incredible riders, I think we will manage a good collaboration between the two riders.

“We will be the team to beat next year, I know other brands are growing on the technical side and with their rider lineup, but in the end, I think the Ducati factory team will be very tough next year.”

There’s no doubt Ducati will start as the favourites to win the title in 2025 with either Bagnaia or Marquez, especially as Martin, Bezzecchi and Bastianini will all be riding bikes new to them, but whether Ducati can be as good as 2024 will be one of the toughest challenges ever in MotoGP.

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