Instead Of Being With Marquez, Bagnaia Prefers To Tandem With Bastianini
JAKARTA - The 2025 MotoGP will start rolling in late February 2025. This season, Francesco Bagnaia will have a duet with Marc Marquez at the Ducati Factory.
Regarding his new partner, Bagnaia actually admitted that he was more happy to work with Enea Bastianini, his colleague two seasons ago.
Bagnaia has indeed collaborated with Bastianini, who is both Italian in the Ducati garage in the last two seasons. However, this season, the Borgo Panigale team decided not to extend Bastianini's contract and chose to promote Marquez from Gresini.
Marquez's presence cannot be denied that he will add pressure to Bagnaia in an effort to win his third MotoGP world title.
This is natural because Marquez is still considered one of the strong candidates in the hunt for the MotoGP world title.
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The eight-time world champion has succeeded in proving himself competitive despite years of slump at Honda. Marc Marquez was able to finish third in the 2024 MotoGP under the auspices of Gresini Racing.
Regarding Marquez's presence as his new tandem, Bagnaia has his own views. He openly admitted that he preferred to cooperate with Bastianini.
"Who would prefer as a team-mate? I would prefer to continue with Enea Bastianini," Francesco Bagnaia said in a meeting with his fans quoted from Motosan on Wednesday, February 26, 2025.
"In terms of feelings, I am closer to him (Enea Bastianini) because we have known each other for a long time."
"However, the reality is different. I've always had a good relationship with Enea, but I also feel Marquez is a good person," he said again.
Bagnaia and Marc Marquez are the ones who are directly favored to dominate the 2025 MotoGP. In fact, both are predicted to compete fiercely in the race for the world title this season.
Related to this, Bagnaia admitted that he was challenged to beat his tandem.
"He (Marc Marquez) has won eight world titles. The fact that he can win the world again is also a motivation for me to improve my skills," said Francesco Bagnaia.