Marc Marquez sends a warning shot with dream weekend in Thailand
2 Mar 2025
By India Knowlson - Chief Motorsports Editor
Images courtesy of Gareth Harford - Copyright Gold & Goose
The 2025 MotoGP season revved into life with a show-stopping opener in Thailand, where Marc Marquez delivered a dream weekend to announce his return to the title fight. The eight-time world champion dominated the Chang International Circuit, taking pole position, winning the sprint race, and securing victory in Sunday’s main event. To top it all off, his brother Alex Marquez finished second, completing a perfect weekend for the Marquez family.
From the moment the bikes hit the track in Buriram, Marc was in a league of his own. He set the pace in practice, stormed to pole position, and controlled the sprint race on Saturday. But when it mattered most on Sunday, he executed another masterclass, sending a powerful message to his rivals.
Despite his early dominance, the race wasn’t without its challenges. Marc led comfortably in the opening laps, but drama struck on lap 7 when he suddenly lost pace and slotted in behind his brother Alex. The cause remains a mystery, as he later avoided answering questions about what happened, but commentators speculated that it was a strategic move to address tyre pressure concerns. With MotoGP regulations requiring at least 60% of the race to be run above the minimum tyre pressure, Marc may have deliberately dropped behind Alex to increase his pressures—an unusual move considering he had the pace to stay in front.
Seizing the opportunity, Alex took over at the front; however, Marc was never far behind, shadowing his younger brother’s every move. Meanwhile, Pecco Bagnaia, sensing an opportunity, lowered his lap times and began closing in. Further down the field, Joan Mir showed signs of progress for Honda, running as high as seventh before crashing out on lap 16. However, one of the standout performances of the race came from none other than the rookie Ai Ogura, who showcased the pace and potential of the factory Aprilia, proving that development is paying off.
As the race entered its final laps, Bagnaia sensed a chance and ramped up the pressure, closing in on the leading duo. But with just three laps to go, Marc struck back. He made his move at the final corner, retaking the lead and immediately pulling away, putting clear track between him and second place. He was untouchable as he crossed the finish line comfortably ahead of brother Alex.
It was a weekend to remember for the Marquez family and a proud moment for their father, who watched both his sons stand on the podium together—the first time the duo has finished 1st and 2nd in a MotoGP race.
For Marc Marquez fans, this dominant display marks a rebirth of hope for another world title challenge, with many speculating we could be about to witness a rerun of 2014 when Marc won the first 10 races before going on to claim the title. The weekend’s result also makes him the first rider to win on his Ducati debut since Casey Stoner in 2007—further proof that the switch to the Italian team could be the start of a new world championship-winning era for the Spanish superstar.
Marc has sent a clear message to the entire MotoGP grid—he is back. If history truly does repeat itself, this could be the start of yet another relentless championship charge.
Big surprises in Thailand Friday sessions
28 Feb 2025
By Graham Holt.
Images courtesy of Gareth Harford - Copyright Gold & Goose
If the opening sessions of the 2025 MotoGP are a sign of what’s to come, fans are in for a more exciting season than anyone expected with Alex Marquez beating brother Marc to top spot in the final minutes of practice.
A dramatic last ten minutes saw several surprise riders posting times to secure them a place in Q2 on Saturday which eventually saw a rookie and all the manufacturers represented in the top 10 separated by only 0.588s
Was the biggest surprise Ai Ogura finishing the day with an impressive 9th place on his debut, two places below team-mate Raul Fernandez, both on the un-fancied Trackhouse Aprilia machines. Certainly the fact that the American team was the only one to have both riders in the top 10 will have surprised most of the paddock.
Perhaps the fact that only half of the six Ducatis are through to Q2 which didnt include the two time World Champion Pecco Bagnaia was equally unexpected. The Italian’s final attempt, whilst on target for a top spot, was thwarted by the VR46 Ducati of Franco Morbidelli who was riding slowly on the racing line resulting in the former champion settling for a lowly 13th place. The offence was not a surprise for most as Morbidelli has previous for this behaviour so nor was the three place grid penalty he received.
Alex Marquez topped the Friday timesheets on board his Gresini Ducati
Probably expected was Pedro Acosta once again being the only one who could tame the KTM, securing third fastest together a fourth place for Marco Bezzechi on his debut with the Factory Apriiia team, flying their flag high with the absence of fellow debutante and World Champion Jorge Martin. The luckless Spaniard having to endure another operation following a training crash on Monday. It now looks likely that he will also not be present at Argentina in two weeks following this injury.
Pre season signs that Yamaha had made positive steps during the winter were evident in the morning session but only Fabio Quartararo was able to claim a top ten spot for the Japanese factory finishing in 8th place.
Completely unexpected and unpredicted, and therefore the biggest surprise, was the performance of the once dominant Honda, who claimed sixth and tenth spot with Joan Mir and Johann Zarco respectively. After several years in the doldrums, all four of their riders demonstrated the significant improvements of the Japanese machine with Luca Marini and home hero, rookie Somkiat Chantra, posting regular fast laps throughout the day.
MotoGP
Season Preview
MotoGP prepares to kick off in Thailand on Feb 28th
By Graham Holt.
Images courtesy of Gareth Harford - Copyright Gold & Goose
At 2am on February the 28th, the most ardent UK MotoGP fans will be tuned in to watch the first wheels turned of the 2025 season, when the Moto3 youngsters will start their first free practice in Thailand. Most, however, will probably sleep a little longer until 3.45am when the premier class takes to the track and they can be amongst the first to witness the much anticipated debut of Marc Marquez riding the all conquering Factory Ducati bike in anger for the first time.
No-one has been brave enough to predict that this years Champion will not be either Spain’s Marquez or his Italian team-mate Pecco Bagnaia on the Bologna ‘Bullets’ but who will reign supreme does divide opinion. Marquez has taken first blood in pre season testing but this was far from unexpected as this is how the Spaniard approaches every session on track - flat out from the off. Wheres the young Italian Bagnaia prefers a slower build up approach which he has once again demonstrated in testing.
Of course, to limit the potential champion to only two riders might seem a little narrow minded especially considering Ducati plan to start the season with a combination of the 2024 and the 2025 bike but recent history has proved they will very soon find the optimum package.
Perhaps the more interesting pre season question is who will challenge the top two for the podiums and even potential victories.
Reigning Champion Jorge Martin who has switched to the other Italian Factory offering, Aprilia, looked favourite before the pre season but an injury sustaining crash in the first session in Malaysia ruled him out for the remains test days. This left it up to the other Factory Aprilia debutante, Marco Bezzechi to demonstrate how competitive the new bike would be and early signs were favourable.
After a couple of disappointing seasons, Yamaha have made big steps in the close season with a new factory supported team in Pramac, who have switched from Ducati, complete with two former race winners on board in Jack Miller and Miguel Olivera. Both riders reporting favourable comments about their new machine.
Factory riders Alex Rins and crowd favourite Fabio Quatararo also clearly demonstrated the progress of the 2025 offering with encouraging ‘time attack’ laps during pre season with the Frenchman Quatararo feeling upbeat about the his potential to compete for podiums at least this season. Also demonstrating Yamaha’s commitment to return to winning ways is the continued development of their new V4 engine with positive feedback being reported from its extensive winter testing.
Ducati will also be hoping that if one of their Factory bikes does not win any particular race, they will be replaced by a rider from one of their two other privateer teams, Gresini Racing or the VR46 team with Gresini’s Alex Marquez already topping pre season tests. VR46’s Fabio Digianantonio anticipated best privateer Ducati potential is still unknown as he also suffered an injury on day one of testing and was forced to miss the remaining sessions. Perhaps fortunate to still have a competitive ride after two unimpressive seasons, fellow Italian Frankie Morbidelli showed encouraging signs that Rossi’s faith was not misplaced with some top five placings in testing.
The financially troubled KTM Factory will be relying heavily on their young Spanish charger Pedro Acosta to take the fight to Ducati as he once again seemed to defy the real performance capabilities of the Austrian machine with several impressive one lap timings. Team mate Brad Binder and factory supported team Tech3 riders Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini will realistically spend most of the season hoping for wet conditions to be anywhere in the mix.
It remains almost unbelievable that the once dominant massive Japanese factory, Honda, are not the leaders in taking the fight to Ducati. Despite unprecedented changes in management and philosophy and a completely radical new bike, it looks like their most competitive rider will most likely come from their privateer team LCR entry in France's Johann Zarco. Factory riders Luca Marini and former champion Joan Mir will be hoping to see improvement from these changes throughout the season but will still be forced consider any top ten finish as a big result.
So will the bleary eyed British fans be any the wiser after the opening round in a few days time. Probably not, as opening rounds are rarely a sign of season long potential but we will doubtless all enjoy the spectacle nonetheless.
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