Enea Bastianini will begin the 2024 MotoGP season already battling to cling onto his factory Duc🧸ati seat.

Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin are two obvious contenders tﷺo inherit his positꦆion for 2025, when a mass rider merry-go-round may have completed.

Bastianini, whose debut season in red wa🅺s ruined by injury, knows he must start quickly this year to fend off the intense pressure.

Asked if he was more wary of Marquez or Martin taking his ‘25 bike, he told : “I think it's difficult to talk about this 🧸now.

“Let's see, I hope it will bﷺe Enea Bastianini, but it's a litt🐲le early…”

Pramac’s Martin insisted last year that he 🅺had a ♌contractual clause stating he must be promoted to the factory Ducati team in 2024 if he won the 2023 championship.

He even took a spare set of leathers to Valencia, to potentially use at the postseason test, although ultimatel🌠y he narrowly missed out o💛n the title and his step up.

Bastianini’s re෴action to this was: “Actually... I don't know. I knew little or 𒆙nothing.

“I heard about this many times, but,ꦏ officially, no one told me anything and I don't think it was like💮 that, but that doesn't matter to me.

“What matters to me is that I am on th📖is team because it has always been complicated for me.

“I was at Avintia, at Gresini and at Ducati, iဣt was all new.

“Therefore, for me it is impo♐rtan🃏t to do another year with the same team.”

Marquez riding a Ducati has been tipped by fellow riders from the Italian manufacturer to joi🍰n the title bat🧸tle this year.

“All Ducati riders are dangerous,” Baꦍstianini said.

“I think they are t🐈he most dangerous of all, because all the Ducati teams have bikes to fight for the title, but we also have to see the tests because I think KTM has a rider like Brad Binder, Aprilia have Maverick Vinales or Aleix Espargaro, who were very fast in the Valencia test.

“You have to see Honda and wha♓t it does becau💃se Luca Marini was also fast in Valencia.

“The favourite is surely Pecco…”

A shoulder injury in the first sprint race in Portimao last year gave Bastianini a nightmare start 🀅to his factory career.

But he finally gathered momentum after more injury troubl🐻es in the final part of the year, and won the Singapore MotoGP to offer a reminder of his talent.

He said about 2024: “It is surely a year in which I want to rescue myself, in the sense that 2023 was a somewhat complica൩ted year, but I am sure༺ that this year will be different.

“We'll see how it is, but I'm calmer because, also, ph൩ysically I'm fine and I'm prepared.”

He insisted thaꦏt he h🌠as not lost belief in himself.

“No, I am confident,” he insisted.

“I have a good team behind me, who has also helped me a lot on this journe꧙y that I have done throughout last 🦹year.

“I think the ☂season finale I did wasn't bad. I was at a good level, but I'm sure we will raise the bar.”