Ducati backs Francesco Bagnaia in “significant” third battle, Marc Marquez update

Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali believes Francesco Bagnaia still “has every chance” of ending a “complex” MotoGP season with third in the world championship.

The last ten races have seen the factory Ducati rider either take victory (three times) or fail to score a point (seven times).

While Ducati has already secured a title one-two with Marc and Alex Marquez, its former double MotoGP champion enters this weekend’s penultimate round at Portimao five points behind Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi in the battle for third.

“There have been huge successes for Ducati [this season],” Domenicali told Sky Italia.

“It’s also been strange because we experienced two sides of the garage with two very different dynamics, and Pecco’s part was certainly very complex.

“I think third place is totally within his reach.

“It’s significant, considering such a difficult championship, taking home the third step of the podium is certainly a great result, and I think he has every chance of doing it.”

Ducati riders have filled all three places on the final MotoGP World Championship podium for the past two seasons, sweeping the top four in 2024.

Meanwhile, Domenicali also offered an update on Marc Marquez’s recovery from shoulder surgery, which will keep the nine-time world champion off a MotoGP bike until Sepang in February.

“Next week he’ll remove the bandages and then begin physiotherapy and recovery,” Domenicali said.

“The good part is that the fixation of the bone and ligament is completely resolved, so he won’t have any after-effects, [but] there will be a rather long recovery period.”

Ducati's WorldSBK title runner-up Nicolo Bulega will place Marquez for the remaining rounds.