Marc Marquez season proves Ducati “still much stronger” than MotoGP rivals

Francesco Bagnaia believes the Ducati Desmosedici GP is still the best bike in MotoGP despite the success of other brands.

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi collected his second win of the season last weekend (7–9 November) in Portugal, while Honda has been able to get on the podium twice in the last five races with Joan Mir and Pedro Acosta has become a consistent podium threat and now lies only three points behind Bagnaia in the riders’ standings.

But the strength of Marc Marquez – who has been absent through injury since Indonesia – is proof that the Ducati is still the best bike on the grid, Bagnaia thinks.

“I think our bike is the best one,” Francesco Bagnaia told the pre-event press conference ahead of the Valencia MotoGP when asked if the concessions system had made it harder for Ducati to develop the Desmosedici in 2025.

“I think I struggled this season, it’s true, but in the last seasons I was always super-competitive and I won doing many mistakes. 

“This season, Marc [Marquez] was there, with less mistakes, he won with five races to go, and I think our bike is still much stronger than all the other bikes. 

“It’s true that having the test, having some concessions more could be an opportunity to improve faster – in my case, maybe having more days of test could have been better, but the rules are there to make the championship more equalised.

“I think Aprilia, Yamaha, Honda, KTM have used well their advantage with testing and wildcards to improve their situations. 

“But Ducati is still the best one and I think we used well what we have.”

“I struggled to accept the reality”

Despite the strength of Ducati that Bagnaia still believes is superior to the rest, Bagnaia’s season has clearly been a disaster compared to previous years.

Three victories (including Sprints) this year come along with seven DNFs between Sprints and grands prix for the rider who won 11 main races in 2024, and yet the Italian isn’t even sure that he’s learnt anything from the experience.

“Honestly, it’s quite clear that I had more bad than good this year,” he said.

“After the last four seasons, where a bad result was a third place, I struggled to accept the reality of this season. 

“I did all the season the best job I could with the team, trying to understand, trying to adapt to the 2025 bike, but unluckily I didn’t. So, I was struggling a lot. 

“The bike has a really good potential because, looking at Marc – he showed it. But, for the rest, I was just struggling. 

“So, I don’t know if I honestly will learn something from this season; what I think is good to have clear in my mind is that I always tried to adapt to it and always tried to be competitive.

“So, this is something that will help me in the future, but hoping that on Tuesday when I will try the [2026] bike I will feel again with my feeling and try to fight next year for the top positions.”

Bagnaia’s toughest season in MotoGP has come in the championship’s longest-ever season, with this weekend’s Valencia race being the 22nd of the year.

It’s something the Ducati Lenovo Team rider feels is even tougher with his current difficulties, although it’s not something he’d necessarily change.

“We are prepared for everything and I think it’s fair to have a calendar like this,” Bagnaia said.

“We are enjoying riding and honestly doing more races out of Europe is nice and we have good times there. 

“In my situation, honestly, it’s more tough, but it’s what it is. It’s great that it’s like this. 

“Last year I was needing one more race and this season maybe five less, but it’s what it is.”