Ducati MotoGP team boss Davide Tardozzi has labelled Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez “a dream team.”
The squad raised eyebrows when they selected eight-time world champion Marquez for their factory team in June, with his efforts onboard a year old Gresini machine after leaving Honda blowing away Ducati bosses in Bologna – despite eventual world champion Jorge Martin making his desire to race in factory red clear. However team boss Tardozzi says he has no regrets over the line-up – but admits that the snubbed Martin, who quit the brand to join Aprilia, will be a formidable opponent.
Marquez’s signing was slammed at the time by former rival Valentino Rossi, and led to two other riders leaving the Ducati fold, as Marco Bezzecchi – third in the world in 2023 – moved to join Martin at Aprilia, whilst Enea Bastianini signed for KTM’s satellite Tech3 squad, despite financial issues plaguing the Austrian brand. Meanwhile Ducati’s title-winning Pramac satellite team – who made history by becoming the first non-factory team to win a world championship in the MotoGP era – will switch to Yamaha machinery from 2025, with an all-new rider line-up of Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira
But speaking to MotoGP.com, veteran team manager Tardozzi was confident that the Italian brand would continue their dominance that saw them win 19 of the 20 GPs in 2024, saying: “I think Pecco and Marc are incredible riders, we will manage good collaboration between the two riders and we will be the team to beat next year.
“I know that other brands are growing on the technical side and on the rider line-up, but in the end I think that the Ducati bike and Ducati factory team will be very tough next year. We will leave some top guys to other brands, but I honestly think we have a dream team.
“We have to take time during the winter to make the right step because the 2024 bike is really competitive and it will not be so easy to make a step forward. On the other hand we know that our opponents are very tough and they will be very strong on the rider’s side next year, the two Aprilia guys, (Marco) Bezzecchi and Jorge (Martin) will be very tough and (Maverick) Vinales and (Enea) Bastianini will improve the riders at KTM.”