Marc Márquez will be riding for Ducati in MotoGP in 2025, pairing up with Francesco Bagnaia. Despite Márquez’s proven skills, Ramón Forcada believes it won’t be easy for the Spaniard to surpass the 2022 and 2023 champion.
On the podcast Dura la Vita, Forcada, who in 2023 was with the former RNF, stated: ‘«If you put Márquez there, he’ll eat him up». But there’s one thing: does anyone doubt that, for example, when Márquez was at Honda in his prime, with a bike made for him – which is very important – it was difficult for anyone to come and beat Marc there? Well, the situation now is the opposite. We’re not going to discuss the rider’s qualities, but the Ducati is a bike made for Pecco – not by Pecco, but for Pecco’.
Besides the bike, Forcada highlighted Bagnaia’s relationship with Ducati and the team: ‘He is the factory’s golden child because he’s someone who came from a low profile, who was good when he was young, had a phase where he trained little, didn’t take care of himself much, and they chose him and warned him: «You have the opportunity, but if you lose it, it’s gone forever». And he got to where he is now’.
The engineer also emphasized Bagnaia’s role within Ducati’s environment: ‘So, he has his bike, he has his team – the team is perfect because his character helps. As [Davide] Tardozzi told me: «When things go wrong, he’s the one who calms the team». In other words, he plays a role that is very important for him, for [Gigi] Dall’Igna, for Ducati, for everyone, which they like. And he is a person who is well-liked at Ducati. And that also helps’.