Ducati Dominates Thai MotoGP With Marc Marquez Leading A Podium Sweep

Saajan Jogia | Mar 2, 2025

Apr 12, 2024; Austin, TX, USA; Enea Bastianini (23) of Italy and Ducati Lenovo Team during practice for the MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas at Circuit of The Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Ducati asserted its dominance at the 2025 Thai MotoGP with a commanding performance led by Marc Marquez, who completed a flawless weekend by securing pole position, the sprint race victory, and his first grand prix win as a factory Ducati rider. His brother Alex Marquez and reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia completed an all-Ducati podium in the same order, mirroring Saturday’s sprint results.

Marc led the race until Lap 7, when he was overtaken by Alex on Gresini's GP24 machine. However, Marc regained the lead on Lap 23 and created a considerable gap of 1.732 seconds. Although it initially seemed like a mechanical issue had slowed Marc, he quickly regained pace, settling in behind his brother, which appeared to be a strategic move to manage tire pressures. As the race neared its conclusion, Alex struggled with rear grip on the GP24, offering Marc the perfect opportunity to secure victory.

Alex kicked off his 2025 season on a high note with back-to-back runner-up finishes for Gresini at Buriram, while Bagnaia closed the gap mid-race but ultimately settled for third, finishing 0.666s behind. Franco Morbidelli secured fourth for VR46 Ducati, falling three seconds behind the podium battle after briefly challenging Bagnaia for third.

Trackhouse Racing rookie Ai Ogura finished fifth ahead of factory Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, who trailed by over seven seconds in sixth. Johann Zarco was on the top Honda in seventh, followed by KTM’s Brad Binder, Tech3’s Enea Bastianini, and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio completing the top ten at the Thai MotoGP.

Marc has been regarded as the favorite for the 2025 season after earning his factory Ducati promotion following a strong campaign with Gresini last year. Paired with Bagnaia, the two multi-time world champions have been identified by TNT Sports MotoGP presenter Neil Hodgson as key contenders set to push each other in the fight for the title. Motorsports On SI reported:

“I think they’re both so talented.

“Obviously Marc’s [Marquez] got more world titles, but I feel like Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia] is still improving, still learning, and he’s an absolute machine.

“You write Pecco Bagnaia off at your peril, don’t you? Quite often on a race weekend, he’ll have a really average Friday, even an average Saturday, and he’ll bounce back and win the Grand Prix on Sunday.

“So, I can see it going on and on.

“I think both riders will push each other extremely hard, obviously they share the data so they can copy each other’s homework. So, I think they’ll both push each other.

“I think we’re going to have a season very similar to last year, where you’ve got two riders pushing each other.

“There’ll be lots of mistakes as well, I think there’ll be crashes, I think there’ll be collisions between them, I do, I really do, which is probably not a big statement because we’ve seen it in the past.”