Double world champion Francesco Bagnaia heads into this weekend's Austrian MotoGP targeting a hat-trick to maintain Ducati's domination at the RedBullRing circuit.
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The second half of the season resumes for this 11th race of 20 with 'Pecco' just three points adrift of Jorge Martin in the championship standings.
And in a tantalising twist to the season Bagnaia's soon-to-be ex-teammate Enea Bastianini is now sitting third, 49 points adrift, after his superb Silverstone double five weeks ago.
Ducati decided not to renew Bastianini's contract for 2025.
And in June they elected to overlook Martin, who rides for their satellite Pramac team, in favour of Marc Marquez to replace the KTM-bound Italian next year.
Marquez, the six-time former champion with Honda, has been revitalised since joining Ducati's Gresini outfit this term after a couple of seasons marred by multiple injuries and a misfiring bike.
Bagnaia gave a frank reply when asked about the presence of the Spaniard in the other half of the Ducati garage in 2025.
"I think it could be super good, or a disaster," he chuckled.
"It could be a disaster in case we start to scream or we start to have some 'discussions' but we are both very smart and he will adapt perfectly."
Keep your friends close and your enemies/rivals even closer 👀
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) August 15, 2024
If @marcmarquez93 doesn’t win the title this year his choice is clear, @PeccoBagnaia🏆#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/vuKmZPMsqG
His future teammate then arrived for the interview with motogp.com.
After the pair shook hands Marquez said he hoped the pair's relationship "inside the garage will be good".
He added: "I think the (inter-team) competition increases the level of the riders.
"I wish to have a good level, like this I can learn from him especially as he's the top Ducati rider."
Marquez has plenty of experience riding alongside world champions like Dani Pedrosa (in the discontinued 125cc category), Jorge Lorenzo and Joao Mir, in his days at Honda.
"You can learn from them and they can learn from you," he said.
"But I think next year I need to learn more from Pecco because he's the fastest guy out there."
Martin, who will ride for Aprilia next term, will be desperate to show Ducati what they are missing out on in not signing him with another strong weekend at a circuit where he notched up his first MotoGP win in 2021.
"For sure the circuit is really nice for Ducati. It's going to be difficult but I had a good weekend in Silverstone," said the series leader.
Bagnaia, the winner in Spielberg in 2022 and 2023, rated the circuit "one of the best tracks for our bike".
On the close title battle with Martin he reflected: "To be leading the championship now is not that important - it's like starting the season over again, we have 10 races to go and only three points in it."