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To officially kick off 2025, Bagnaia and Marquez are side by side on the stage at the opening press conference, and you can bet they will share that stage quite often over the course of the season. When asked for their predictions for the World Championship, they both put their names as world champion (Marc, in truth just the last name "so I have better odds" he jokes thinking of his brother Alex). The games will begin tomorrow.
"The winter break is getting shorter and shorter," Bagnaia laments with a smile, "Starting in Thailand is different from doing it in Qatar, but it's still the first race. You do the photo shoot all together on the grid, it's nice, you feel different, you start again. Am I nervous? I slept well, so it's okay."
How important is this season for you?
"Every year is important, it's always important to prove to myself what I'm worth. Sometimes it was said that I was winning because I had the better bike, the better team, but I never did what I did for others, but for myself. I know what my potential is and what I can aspire to, I will do everything to achieve it. 2024 was the most important year of my career in terms of results because I won 11 GPs, but I lost the title. That served me well and now I will have to show that I have learned from my mistakes."
Does Ducati have the best team ever with you and Marquez?
"I think our team is incredible, over the years it has grown so much and there has been a lot of work behind it to be able to create this kind of atmosphere. So I say yes because Marc is a very strong rider, he is the most titled rider on the lineup and the one who can improve me the most as results. I will also try to learn from him. In my opinion Ducati has reached an important peak this year."
Unfortunately, the world champion will not be on the track.
"I consider what happened to him as bad luck, because in Malaysia he crashed twice in 13 laps and then again before coming here. Maybe it was cold in Andorra, where he was training, and in those conditions certain things can happen. He was unlucky because the scaphoid needs a long time to heal. I texted him, told him it's too bad and sent him a big hug. It's hard to say anything more in these situations, just not to be in a hurry, because for another accident when he is not yet in perfect shape he could risk his career. Sometimes it's better to wait."
There are those who say that you and Marquez will monopolize the first two places in every Grand Prix.
"I think it will be an intense fight, we know how strong Marc is and how good he is in a race and we have to be prepared for it, but I don't think we will see something like Argentina 2016 between teammates (when Dovizioso and Iannone clashed, ed.). Also, I think many other riders for also one single event can be faster than us, we will have to be preapred for everything."
A few months ago you won in Buriram.
"Winning is the best feeling possible, so we will try to continue this streak. It would be great but it's not mandatory. One thing I wanted to learn from last year is that sometimes it's better to keep calm and analyze better the situation, but if I see that the possibility of a win is there I will try to catch it and I hope that it will be a good battle."
Will the strategies and psychological games between you and Marquez start right away?
"We don't have any agreement, honestly, but we are starting the season, so it's not a secret that we both want to win the championship. We are here for that and the ambition in our team is to win the championship. I think many times this season we will fight. I don't think he will start already here doing some strategy because the most important thing right now is to improve, to learn from the new bike. It's true that the base is the GP24 bike but every season something is changing. We don't want that other manufacturers close the gap to us so we have also to work together to improve still, then in the race fight and the best will win."
Who could get into the fight?
"Looking at the lap times in the test, Aprilia with Bezzecchi was strong, and also the other Ducati riders, because both Alex Marquez and Morbidelli were fast and competitive. It's difficult to say now for the championship who will be more consistent, but I think for the first race, all the Ducati riders, Bezzecchi and KTM with Acosta can fight for the win."
Are you satisfied with how the winter went?
"It was intense, with a lot of work to do and a lot of parts to test, also because it was very important to choose the engine we will use for two seasons. We didn't want to take big risks, the new engine was working well but it lacked something in braking, so we decided to continue with the 2024 one, which is amazing and still has room for improvement. It was nice to work with Marc and amazing that our comments were so similar, this helped the engineers. Marquez and I also got along well off the track, we went to dinner together and didn't just talk about racing. It is important to have a good relationship to try to work in the right direction."
When did you realize it would be better to stay with the same engine?
"We didn't make the decision in Malaysia, but we started thinking about it, also because five days of testing are few. Both Marc and I were happy with the 2024 engine and I think we will not miss anything, I think it was the right decision."
How is this Ducati different from the one you finished last championship with?
"The base is the same, but there are different details. For the moment it is similar, but we have a new swingarm, and we will have time in the future to try again the chassis and aerodynamics."
