Marc Marquez has returned to some of his very best MotoGP form in 2025 and has put in some stunning performances for Ducati.
It has left him on top of the MotoGP standings, and some 93 points ahead of his teammate after just eight rounds.
On the other hand, Francesco Bagnaia’s campaign has been incredibly difficult for the most part. He just hasn’t been able to fuse with the GP25 at all.
Marquez should wrap the title up comfortably on the current trajectory, but there was a slight shift in momentum at the Grand Prix of Aragon.
Although Marquez broke an incredible 10-year feat, Bagnaia made a breakthrough on Sunday and showed a lot more pace.
In fact, Bagnaia did something ‘very important’ by changing his brakes, and it gave him a lot more feeling in his front end. It may have been the decisive change he has been searching for.
Carlo Pernat says Marc Marquez ‘entered’ Francesco Bagnaia’s head when Ducati signed him
It has been just over a year since Ducati announced that Marquez would be joining the factory team from Gresini for 2025 and beyond.
The unprecedented dominance since then has shocked those in the paddock, garage and the fans. It even forced Bagnaia’s ‘significant’ Aragon change in a last gasp effort to try anything that might cure his woes.
But ex-MotoGP agent Carlo Pernat believes that Marquez has been in Bagnaia’s head from day one, right when the factory team announced his arrival last June.
“My advice to him is to get it out of his head,” he said. “Marc Marquez entered his head at the same moment that Ducati decided to take him. At that moment, the woodworm entered and Marquez ruined all his teammates.
“It’s not that Pecco is strong, he has to stay calm, not forget about those close to him and go his own way. I wouldn’t leave Ducati, you’ll stay with the contract, but imagine until the end of 2026.
“Let’s not even talk about the strongest bike and Pecco is a champion. He won it twice, so it’s not that you win twice just for the sake of it. It’s that you’re in front of a phenomenon.”
Why Francesco Bagnaia’s Ducati improvements have arrived at the perfect time
The upcoming Italian Grand Prix at Mugello is Bagnaia’s home race, and he will be cheered on by a bumper home crowd.
Crucially, he must now make sure that whatever improvements he found at Aragon can be emulated at other circuits too, otherwise they will mean little.
Marquez and Bagnaia are fighting ‘an internal war’ over which parts should be added to their bikes, with the Italian keen for more change.
If his brakes and aerodynamic adjustments do bring improvements at most events, then the title fight may just be back on in the nick of time.
