Pecco Bagnaia: "Now I'm stronger than Marc, next year we will see"
Francesco Bagnaia says he has the measure of Marc Marquez at the moment, but "next year we will see."
Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez will form arguably the best MotoGP rider line-up in 2025.
While Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi at Yamaha was a special line-up, Marquez and Bagnaia are two of the top three riders in MotoGP as present.
The pair, riding different Ducati machines at the moment, will both be aboard the GP25 next season.
Fighting for the title will be the aim for both, with Marquez aiming to cement himself as a consistent threat to Bagnaia.
So far in 2024 Bagnaia has had the edge over Marquez, with the Italian telling Paddock-gp: “Now I'm stronger than Marc. So we will see, people's expectations of him were surely very different.
"We work in silence, we stay silent and… the track speaks. Because I have never had this habit of passing judgment before seeing the work.
"We said that Marc with the Ducati was going to win, now we say that he does not have the same bike. Next year we will see."
For many, Marquez failing to win a race so far this season has been a surprise.
The eight-time world champion has had the pure performance to do so on occasion, but has ultimately fell short.
That's not expected to be the case for the entire 2024 campaign, but when it comes to challenging himself for consistent wins, Bagnaia believes he has the mindset needed to overcome Marquez, as he showed in Jerez earlier this season
Bagnaia added: "What will be, we will see, I have to have fun and do my best, we know what our potential is and that by doing everything well… I know perfectly well that my strength is being able to detect the situation.
"In my opinion, we currently have very few opponents."