Ducati insist “real mistake” with Valentino Rossi won’t happen with Marc Marquez

Ducati insist that bringing Marc Marquez into their factory team will not backfire in similar fashion to Valentino Rossi's ill-fated spell.

Rossi had already won all nine of his world championships when, in 2011, he opted to leave Yamaha for Ducati.

His two-year stint was infamously unsuccessful and he fled back to Yamaha, although would never win another MotoGP title.

The manufacturer insists that recruiting eight-time champion Marquez will end differently.

"It's a completely different gamble because of the preparation we have today as manufacturer, bike, management and technical management," team manager Davide Tardozzi told GPOne.

"This was the real mistake when we brought Valentino to Ducati. We weren't prepared.

"Ducati wasn't prepared to manage Valentino.

"Today, we are very prepared. Let me remind you that also we now have the two-time world champion.

"The moment you manage Francesco Bagnaia, I don't see why we can't also manage Marc Marquez.

"It's not that Pecco is anything less than Marc. He's a rider who's proving that he wants to win, and he does it in the most gentlemanly way possible. I'm talking about what happens off the track.

"With Valentino, it was completely the wrong timing.

"With Jorge Lorenzo, in my opinion, he made a mistake signing too early with Honda.

"If he had waited even a few days, things could've been different.

"Jorge did a 30.9 lap at Misano, which was mind0blowing, and he had done it in 2017. Too bad."

Lorenzo arrived on a big-money deal with Ducati in 2017, already as a three-time MotoGP champion.

The manufacturer was desperately trying to end a winless streak dating back to Casey Stoner's title in 2007.

But Lorenzo, like Rossi before him, fell badly short on a Ducati.

Marquez represents their third attempt at bringing in the most high-profile rider in the sport. The difference now, however, is that Pecco Bagnaia has already delivered two titles for Ducati, and they have the best bike in the sport.