Marc Marquez has decided to relaunch his career with the Ducati Gresini team this season, after experiencing difficult times with Honda in previous years. His collision with Francesco Bagnaia at Portimao was the first highlight of the intense duels expected with his arrival in the Ducati clan, and it came only after the second weekend of racing this campaign.
With the arrival of Marquez, the competition within the Borgo Panigale brand, already fierce with the presence of drivers like Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio, and Marco Bezzecchi, has gone up a notch. The internal rivalry appears to have reached a new level of intensity.
Marc Marquez found himself at the center of this struggle from the start of the festivities, making an impression during the sprint at Qatar with a fierce fight against Di Giannantonio. These duels are not new, but the difference is that, unlike previous years where Marquez often found himself at a disadvantage at the start with the Honda, his opponents knew that he would be forced to fall back in the rankings. Now, moving forward on the Ducati, Marquez represents a constant threat to his rivals.
Au Portugal, Marc Marquez was not content to confront By Giannantonio, but also crossed swords with George Martin et bagnaia, two of the main title contenders at Ducati. A particularly tense duel with Martin during the sprint preceded the racing incident with bagnaia, where neither rider wanted to give in, resulting in a double fall.
Despite this incident, Marc Marquez remained stoic: “ I don’t think the Ducati riders confront me any harder than the Honda. It was just a battle for position,” he says. After their collision, bagnaia explained to him that he was simply aiming for two more points, highlighting a purely sporting rivalry. He told me he was just thinking about two more points and wanted to defend his position remember Marc Marquez.
However, this season seems to have brought more direct clashes between the drivers Ducati, a dynamic that was not as visible last year despite fighting for the championship. Increased competitiveness and high stakes within the clan Ducati promise a season of MotoGP where alliances will be fragile and where each race can rewrite team dynamics.
