Factory Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia have shared the influential MotoGP figures who helped shape their premier class careers, ultimately paving the way for them to secure rides with a team boasting arguably the fastest bike on the grid.
Bagnaia named his 2024 championship rival and title winner Jorge Martin and Jack Miller. The latter raced with Bagnaia for four years at Pramac. He said:
“The first time I understood something [from a team-mate] was in Moto3, when Jorge Martin arrived. The first test was wet and he was so fast, and following him I learned a lot of things in the wet.
“Then in MotoGP we have to speak about Jack Miller, that together we did an incredible job in terms of atmosphere inside the box, inside the garage.
“I think we both did an amazing job to create what Ducati is right now."
Marquez, on the other hand, named Dani Pedrosa, who was his teammate at Repsol Honda from 2013 to 2018, as the rider he learned the most from. The six-time MotoGP champion said:
“Of course for me, the team-mate I learned more from was Dani Pedrosa.
"That was a master class in every session, when you arrive in MotoGP and have a team-mate like Dani Pedrosa.
“It was amazing to understand. I learned a lot.”
Bagnaia reckons racing alongside Marquez this year will be a big learning for him. He said:
“About Marc, it's absolutely a new thing… But what I think and I know is that with a rider like him - a champion with eight world titles, winning the title also in difficult situations, not having the best bike - it's absolutely a motivation for me, trying also to learn to be competitive when things are not ideal.”
Marquez, meanwhile, explained there is a similarity to his early days at Honda, where he had Pedrosa to learn from. Now, he has the advantage of learning from an experienced Ducati specialist. He said:
“It's not the same situation, but a bit similar.
“I arrive in a box where there is a rider that won two world championships, that is super fast, that only rode a Ducati, so he knows very well how to fix every problem.
“As we see, many times on a Friday, Pecco is far [away], but then from one practice to another, he's the fastest rider on the race track. So I will try to learn from him, because he has a lot of experience with a Ducati bike.”
