The first race of the 2025 season may not have been the most exciting or dramatic race but it’s the day all us MotoGP fans have been waiting 4 months for.
He’s the rider everyone has been talking about during the pre-season. He, without a doubt, has the most pressure on him for 2025 as he is many people’s favourite for the championship. Marc Marquez has used that pressure to his advantage to take a dominant Sprint race win in Thailand.
He started the race on pole, led every lap and faced no real competition from any riders behind him. A dream start to his season and first blood in his battle with new team mate Pecco Bagnaia!
Just behind him was his brother, Alex Marquez, as they enjoy their first ever 1-2 race result. After a brilliant pre-season showing and strong qualifying result, Alex was able to bring his Gresini machine home in 2nd place.
The final podium spot was taken by Pecco Bagnaia, who was visibly quiet during the celebrations. He enjoyed a short battle with Alex Marquez in the opening corners of the race but was unable to improve on 3rd.
Missing out on a podium spot by just less than 1 second was Ai Ogura. The rookie had a phenomenal race, staying with Bagnaia and, at some points, even close in on him and looking hungry for a podium.
It was a difficult day for Jack Miller, who crashed out of 6th midway through the race, after a brilliant qualifying performance. The KTM Tech3 riders, Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini, who won this race 12 months ago, also struggled and ended the day in 14th and 18th respectively.
As It Happened
As the lights went out and the race started, both factory Ducati bikes flew off the line. Bagnaia looked ready to take 2nd place but Alex Marquez gave him a good battle and was able to retain 2nd place. Both settled in behind Marc Marqeuz who quickly put clean air between himself and the rest of the grid.
It was a good start for Ogura who took 4th place away from Jack Miller, who was shuffled down to 6th.
It was a terrible start for Marco Bezzecchi, who’s bike bounced off the line and left him swallowed by the grid and stuck down in 18th.
On lap 2, both KTM riders were catching up to Fabio Quartararo, in 7th. Pedro Acosta went wide and had to bail off the racing line. The following lap, Acosta got past his team mate Brad Binder at the inside of turn 4.
He was then chasing down Quartararo for another few laps until, on lap 7, Acosta was finally able to get ahead. Acosta put the Yamaha rider under so much pressure that he forced him to make mistakes, which he then took full advantage of.
One lap earlier, Jack Miller crashed out from 6th place, meaning Acosta was now up to 6th.
By now, Marc Marquez has a comfortable 1.2 second lead ahead of Alex Marquez who, in turn, was 1.3 seconds ahead of Bagnaia.
As things quietened down for the front half of the grid, there was a huge battle from 10th onwards. Johann Zarco, Raul Fernandez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Fermin Aldeguer and Marco Bezzecchi were battling hard.
At turn 5, lap 11, Di Giannantonio went wide and was looking down at his bike. He bailed off the racing line and eventually retired the bike with a mechanical issue, taking him out of the battle.
Top Ten
Feature Image Credit: MotoGP
