‘Don’t fall into Marquez’s traps’

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has advised his protege Francesco Bagnaia to ‘not fall into Marc Marquez’s traps’ as the two pair up at the factory Ducati team this year.

Double champion Bagnaia is set to face his biggest challenge in MotoGP in 2025, with former Honda star Marquez joining him as a team-mate after a starring performance with Gresini Racing in 2025.

Although Bagnaia is well established within the ranks at Ducati, with even Marquez admitting that it is only natural that he has the “first say” in important matters, the Spaniard’s very arrival has the potential to disrupt the hierarchy at the Borgo Panigale marque.

While Ducati itself has expressed confidence in its ability to manage two A-list riders in its line-up, Rossi has warned Bagnaia against the tactics Marquez could employ in order to win a seventh premier class title.

“There are days when you have to win and days when you have to bring points home. [Bagnaia] has never done that, otherwise he would have won even the third world championship,” Rossi told Corriere della Sera, before advising Bagnaia: “Don’t fall into traps, mind games, don’t let yourself be conditioned by your team-mate. In the duels, have fun and try the impossible.”

Valentino Rossi

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

This is the second piece of advice Rossi has given his academy graduate in the winter break, having previously told him he needs to extract another five percent of performance to get the better of Marquez in 2025.

“The Ducati factory team riders are the ones to beat,” he said last month. “Pecco is very charged up because he wants to redeem himself from last year’s defeat, so let’s hope he can give that five percent more.”

Rossi was involved in a bitter rivalry with Marquez in the last decade and still claims the Spaniard conspired against him in his 2015 title battle with Jorge Lorenzo.

While Rossi and Marquez are yet to put their differences aside, the Italian has managed to mend his relationship with several of his former rivals, including Lorenzo and Casey Stoner –  with the two even visiting his famous ranch in Tavullia.

Speaking on the matter, Rossi added: “Racing against another rider brings with it a very strong sporting hatred. But when you leave it behind, there is respect for those who have shared emotions and tensions with you. It’s the same with Stoner. 

“When I see Sete Gibernau or Jorge Lorenzo again, I feel pleasure. Opponents who have never exceeded a certain limit of aggressiveness.”

Valentino Rossi, Yamaha and Sete Gibernau, Suzuki

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Photos from the Sepang Shakedown