“Working together” claim as Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia regroup
Ducati team manager says Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia’s cooperation key to bike development after Jerez MotoGP test.
Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi praised the ongoing collaboration between factory stars Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia during Monday’s Jerez MotoGP test.
Fresh off a rollercoaster Spanish Grand Prix, where Marquez recovered to 12th after an early crash and Bagnaia was frustrated by a third-place finish behind Fabio Quartararo, the pair returned to the track for the first in-season test of 2025.
“We tested different things with both riders,” Tardozzi told MotoGP.com.
“With Marc, we investigated the front [end] things, just to give him more confidence on the entering of the corners. While with Pecco we had to investigate more the balance of the bike, that he was not happy with during the weekend.
“But we also had new parts, a swingarm that we have to test again.”
Davide Tardozzi on Ducati testing
Marquez topped the timesheets with a 1m 35.876 - the only rider to dip into the 1m35s bracket – while Bagnaia ended down in 19th, not chasing a time as he worked through a long list of set-up items.
Despite their fierce rivalry, Tardozzi said double champion Bagnaia and his new six-time title-winning team-mate are maintaining open lines of communication.
“Yeah, as usual the riders talk mainly during the days like this - the training and the development days,” said Tardozzi.
“So I think that the relationship between the two is something that helps Gigi [Dall’Igna] and the engineers to develop the bike and is something that we appreciate.
“There was no confidence from other people that it can happen, but we have not only two champions, but we have two intelligent guys.
“They know that working together speeds up the development of the bike.”
Marquez heads to next weekend’s French Grand Prix one point behind younger bother Alex in the world championship standings. Bagnaia is 20 points from the top in third.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
