Stoner Optimistic Bagnaia Can Get Out Of Marquez's Domination

Francesco Bagnaia was able to learn from Marc Marquez to rise (Instagram/@pecco63).

JAKARTA Former world champion Casey Stoner is optimistic that Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia has the opportunity to get out of the dominance of Marc Marquez, who is his current team-mate in the Ducati Lenovo Team.

Bagnaia this season has not yet come out of the shadow of his teammate who has impressed. So far, the two-time world champion has only won once in the United States MotoGP when Marquez fell and failed to finish.

Stoner said that it is currently a bit difficult for all drivers to compete with Marquez, even though Bagnaia is both supported by motorbikes with similar specifications.

"I think there must be a big element of someone coming into the same team and finding something on a bike you can't compete with right now."

"Right now, I think Marquez is creating the same problem for everyone in the paddock. Not only for Pecco. So, I think it's a bit difficult to attack Pecco when everyone has a hard time fighting Marc," Stoner said.

Marquez is recorded to top the current standings with a collection of 418 points after winning the Austrian MotoGP last weekend. It was his ninth win out of a total of 13 series.

The number of points makes the eight-time world champion ahead 142 points from his younger brother, Alex Marquez, in second place in the standings and 197 points from Bagnaia in third.

Stoner said that the same various garages as Marquez actually gave Bagnaia the advantage because he could learn as much as possible and be prepared to rise the following season.

"You always learn at the worst of times. I think this can be very useful for Pecco to take as much information as possible, then use it for next year and see what could happen," he said.

Bagnaia actually started the race in Austria from third place and looked convincing. However, he ended up finishing eighth and failing to extend his winning record there.