You are here

MotoGP, Marc Marquez: "Wearing these colors means we can fight for the title."

"Bagnaia has the first say, but Ducati will listen to both. To become the oldest world champion after Valentino Rossi? I prefer to have been the youngest. From Dovizioso I learned never to underestimate your opponents. Me like Hamilton in Ferrari? the name weighs, but it doesn't help you win more"

MotoGP: Marc Marquez:

Ducati also today took the veils off its GP25s on which Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez will tackle the 2025 season. The Ducati team thus presented its 'dream team' to the world, 11 titles added together between the two champions giving rise to one of the most title-winning teams in the history of the sport. Expectations are therefore very high, and Marc Marquez knows it well, and he has repeatedly stressed the awareness of what it means to join an official team after last year's period with Gresini, the team with which the Spaniard was 'reborn' by returning to the top of racing competition after the bad accident that had interrupted his career.

"It wasn't about going back to winning, but about continuing my career or quitting," he would later tell reporters, after he spoke on stage in Madonna di Campiglio about how wearing Ducati red gave him the proverbial "butterflies in his stomach." Wearing these colors has a meaning and expectations of which the Spaniard is well aware, although he does not forget that the years pass even for a champion like him and that one can never take anything for granted, first and foremost his opponents.

"Every time you embark on a new adventure everything is different - Marc Marquez said - It was also last year with Gresini, what makes the difference within a factory team is that it is not about who is number 1 or number 2, but how much experience you have within the team. I am very curious to find out what they do specifically in the box that makes them so competitive and with such a dominant performance in recent years. The team's goal will be to win as always."

You have had several teammates over the years. Who in the past has been most helpful to you?
"For me the boxmate I learned the most from was Dani Pedrosa, every session with him was a master class, especially coming to MotoGP and having a teammate like him was incredible, I learned a lot. Now the situation is different but it's similar, I arrive in a box with a rider who has won two world titles, he's always very fast on the track and he's always raced on the Ducati. He knows the bike and knows how to solve problems, so I will learn a lot from him."

What was the moment when you decided it was time for a change, and that this was the bike you needed.
"It wasn't a matter of winning or not, it was a matter of continuing my career or quitting. Before I stopped I needed to figure out if the problem was me or what I would be able to do on the best bike. When you come from a difficult situation it is important to start without pressure and with the Gresini team we did a great job that allowed me to get the bike in the official team. I will try to work giving my best and get the best possible results."

Marquez: "Pecco is the reference. It's true in 2024 he made mistakes, but if you don't risk, you don't win."

How will you manage the very high expectations placed on you? You will have to fight with Pecco who will be the first of your rivals.
"Pecco is the rider who finished 1st or 2nd in the last years, he is the reference. He won 11 races, it is true he also made mistakes, but if you don't take risks you can't win 11 races, there is always a compromise, so I will learn a lot from him to find the best level for my riding style. When I came to MotoGP, when I was 20 years old, with Honda, I didn't have the awareness of where I was. I didn't feel pressure; I relied a lot on instinct. Now, on the other hand, I'm in the reference team in the paddock, with a rider who has won and who certainly has the first say. Obviously Ducati will listen to both, because the common goal is to win, either with one or the other. Obviously I will also try to fight for the title, but the main goal this season will obviously be to finish in the top 3."

What do you think about the other rivals this season?
"It can create a dangerous atmosphere to already think that Ducati will win the championship. As a team we consider rivals at the same level as us, because we are in MotoGP. Yamaha might come to Malaysia with a new bike and with Quartararo who is a very strong rider, the same goes for KTM or Aprilia. What I learned from fighting against them with Dovizioso in 2017, is that you should never underestimate your opponents, from one year to the next the situation can always change."

You are the second oldest rider on the grid, how has your approach to racing and the championship changed over the years?
"I have more experience but the approach is the same: you have to be fast, if you are it is already easier to keep everything in check. Man is the only animal that can make the same mistake twice. You can learn from your mistakes, with experience you can approach it differently, but you always have to improve to deal with this new generation of riders."

To be in the official team you gave up many things. We saw that you had to give up your longtime sponsor Redbull.
"I will not have any new partners on my helmet, I kept one partner, Estrella Galicia, who have followed me for many years since 2011. They have always supported me a lot and I am happy to have signed a new agreement with them to have them on the helmet."

You have a lot of factory team experience, what have you learned in the last two months approaching the world of Ducati, what are the benefits of being a factory rider?
"Yes, I have been 10 years with Honda, the engineers are at the highest level, but what is important is the communication, not only between engineers, but also between riders and the team, this is the biggest difference. Then if the performance is good on the track everything falls into place more easily."

 

Marquez: "I'd rather have been the youngest MotoGP champion than the oldest."

You were the youngest world champion, this season you could be the oldest after Valentino Rossi.
"I prefer to have been the youngest. For me the most important thing was getting back to being competitive after the crash. I will keep the same mentality, last year I got my confidence back, I won a lot in the past, in the future we will see, but since the crash everything that comes in my future will be a gift. The Marc of 2013 was not realistic, he was not aware of where he was. Now in a month I will be 32 years old and I am much more aware of where I am, what it means to be in an official team that is the benchmark of MotoGP, I am aware of the importance of wearing these colors. Wearing these colors involves being able to fight for the title, when a manufacturer like Ducati bets on you, you have a responsibility not to betray these expectations. I said the goal will be top 3, because fighting this goal means fighting for the title. Today the difference with the young Marc is the experience, especially not the wins but the difficult moments, that's where you learn the most and where you really understand what it means to win."

How do you rate your progress last season?
"I am satisfied, especially with how I managed during the year, the feelings that little by little brought me back to being competitive. For me, the decision to go to Gresini was the best choice I could have made. Now we go to an official team where the responsibilities and expectations are higher, but so are the options available to you. The team is there, the bike too, the last word now is in the hands of the rider."

Technology is increasingly crucial in this environment; we saw an example of AI during the presentation. How much does the human aspect still matter on the bike?
"I asked technology how to win a title! - joked the Spaniard - Technology is important it is clear but it is still an aid, in the end it is the human who makes the decisions, and the last decision is always in your hands. With all this technology the rider becomes less important. Of course the rider has the final say, but certainly a human cannot do everything a computer does nowadays. The important thing is that the rider has the final say, although perhaps the burden is less than before."

Last year you had to adapt from Honda to the Ducati of the Gresini team. Now that you are in the factory team, do you think having more engineers and more help in the team will make it easier for you to adapt to the bike?
"Obviously in the factory team you have it more easily, last year with team Gresini was great, but in a factory team the working method is different. They have already started explaining various things to me, and you have to use all this information to be able to take the best direction with the bike right away."

Marquez: "Honda and Ducati?you can't compare a 10-year relationship with one that has just begun."

You have always emphasized family within the circuit, as in the case of Redbull or the teams you have raced for in the past. Do you think you will find the same kind of environment in Ducati?
"They're human, as I always say it's hateful to make comparisons, you can't compare a 10-year relationship with one that just started. I remained friends with the men at Honda, we didn't talk about bikes this winter but we are still friends. The same is true with Gresini, with whom I weaved a very close relationship last year. I've already gotten to know my new technician Rigamonti, and little by little I'm getting to know the new team, although I've brought a trusted person to facilitate this transition. We speak the same language, that's the important thing."

Physically, what is your condition?
"I'm fine, I'm clearly not comparing my physical condition to what I was in my 20s. I'm in good shape, there's a lot of work to do, but in life as the years go by it's normal that I have to work even harder to keep fitness at the highest level."

What has impressed you most about Dall'Igna?
"Last year Gigi was very clear with me. What I appreciate is his transparency and honesty with all people. I still remember that as soon as I arrived he told me what would be the material available to me. Later, when I signed with the factory team, I thought, "Now I will have a little gift," but that was not the case, because I continued with the same material. I think Gigi is a person of his word, and this is confirmed by all the support shown to Martin last season, despite the fact that he had then signed for another team."

Marquez in Red like Hamilton in Red. What is similar?
"That it's all Red. Hamilton is Hamilton, the strongest media driver along with Alonso and Verstappen. As of today, however, we see a new generation of drivers coming in like Russell and Norris, just to name a few. The name certainly weighs, but that doesn't help to win more."
 

Translated by Julian Thomas

Related articles

 
 
Privacy Policy