MotoGP 2025: Argentina masterclass from Marquez

Argentina masterclass from Marquez

Just like the opening round, round two of this year’s MotoGP World Championship saw a masterclass from Ducati Racing’s Marc Marquez and another two wins maintained his 100% start to the season.

Ominous signs

Marquez was, arguably, even more dominant in Argentina than what he was at Thiland two weeks before. Pole position, when he bettered his long-standing circuit lap record and delivered the first lap at the circuit below 1m37s, set the tone for the weekend and he duly delivered in the two races, winning the Sprint by 0.903s and the feature race by 1.362s.

That means he already holds a 16-point lead in the championship table over younger brother Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing Ducati), who again took second in each race, and an ominous-looking 31 points over team-mate and 2022 and 2023 World Champion Francesco Bagnaia. The latter looked out of sorts in Argentina and whilst third and fourth place finishes aren’t a disaster, his confidence is clearly short in supply at present.

Marc Marquez Image Credit Ducati Racing

Marquez again had to work for his wins, Alex setting the pace particularly in the feature race when he led from laps four to 21 of the 25-lap race. Struggling to find a way through, Marc bided his time but when he did move ahead, his pace was staggering, immediately lapping more than half a second quicker each lap to pull clear.

Many paddock insiders said that if Marquez got hold of a Ducati, the rest of the field wouldn’t see which way it went, and so far that prophecy is coming true.

It gave him his 90th GP win, which moved him onto joint third in the all-time list alongside another Spanish great, the late Angel Nieto, Marquez paying tribute to his fellow countryman after the race. Second on the list, on 115 wins, is Valentino Rossi and that figure, though unattainable in 2025, must surely be in his sights.

Out of the shadow

Alex Marquez has for more than a decade been overshadowed by his more illustrious brother but he’s more than done enough in 2025 to suggest he’s emerging from those shadows. Getting his hands on the GP24-spec Ducati has clearly been a benefit but he looks at ease at the head of the field.

Alex Marquez Image Credit Gresini Racing

He refuted suggestions afterwards that he was helping his brother and wasn’t fighting as hard as he would do against other riders on the grid, rightfully pointing out such comments were disrespectful. Alex is a double world champion in his own right with 12 GP wins and more than 40 podiums to his name.

He’s clearly made a step forward in 2025, scoring 58 points after the first two rounds compared to 13 last year, a fact borne out not just by his pace or by the fact he’s leading races for a long period of time, but by the fact he looks so comfortable doing so. He’s out-performing Bagnaia by a considerable margin too.

Bagnaia is rumoured to be wanting to his 2024 machine for the next round, rather than the hybrid 2024/25 version he’s been running so far, but that’s not Alex’s concern. He’s making hay whilst the sun shines but, of course, having made such an impressive start to the season, the challenge now is to maintain it.

Francesco Bagnaia Image Credit Ducati Racing

Bagnaia, meanwhile, expects round four at Qatar to give a truer representation of where everyone lies in respect to each other as round three at Austin in America is another of Marc Marquez’s favourite tracks, seven MotoGP wins already having been notched up there. That’s all well and good but by that time he could be as much as 50 points adrift in the title race.

Comeback trail

It seems a long time ago since Franco Morbidelli finished second overall in the 2020 MotoGP World Championship, a year that saw him take three wins and only miss out on the title to Joan Mir by 13 points.

A training accident midway through the following year resulted in a badly injured knee and his subsequent time at Yamaha saw him slip down the order – from 2nd to 17th in 2021, an even worse 19th in 2022 and then a slight recovery to 13th in 2023. In truth, he was lucky to retain his factory Yamaha ride for as long as what he did.

Franco Morbidelli Image Credit VR46 Racing

Thrown a lifeline at Pramac Ducati last year, Morbidelli’s season got off to the worst possible start when a spill on a road bike at Portimao left him concussed. However, despite a lack of pre-season testing, he proved he was on the comeback trail and pieced together a solid season, one he didn’t really get credit for. A more than solid 18 top six finishes was the outcome along with a far healthier ninth overall.

He’s brought that form with him into 2025. Moving to the VR46 Ducati team – Morbidelli was the first official rider to join Valentino Rossi’s famed academy – Argentina saw him take his first podium finish since Spain in May 2021 and with three top five finishes from the first four races, he’s slotted into fourth in the early championship table and the smile is certainly back on the face on one of the sport’s most laid back characters.

Regrouping

Morbidelli’s team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio is also getting back to his best after a dislocated shoulder at the end of last season put him on the back foot. Surgery was successful but he then, embarrassingly, broke his collarbone in pre-season testing whilst pulling a wheelie on the Ducati similar in spec to that of Marquez and Bagnaia.

That meant he came into the opening round with very few miles under his belt and his injury still healing. After a low-key opening round, where tenth was his best result, he too was bang on form in Argentina.

Fabio Di Giannantonio Image Credit VR46 Racing

The first non-VR46 academy rider to ride for any of their World Championship teams, the 26-year old took a brace of fifths to jump up to sixth in the standings and on paper, at least, the VR46 team look to have one of the strongest pairings on the grid. Early indications suggest both Di Giannantonio and Morbidelli will be hassling and harrying the factory teams on a regular basis.

Zarco and Honda again impress

If the VR46 Racing duo of Morbidelli and Di Giannantonio enjoyed a strong showing in Argentina, then the same rang true for Castrol Honda LCR rider Johann Zarco, if not more so. Towards the back of the pack throughout 2024, Honda have started the new season strongly particularly double Moto 2 World Champion Zarco.

To be fair, the Frenchman was the best Honda rider throughout 2024 but just three top ten finishes – from 40 races – and 17th overall highlights the struggles he faced.

Johann Zarco Image Credit Castrol Honda LCR

However, it seems clear that Honda’s decision to bring in former MotoGP stalwarts Aleix Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami for testing duties, along with technical guru Romano Alebesiano, is already paying dividends.

Zarco qualified a brilliant third before going on to take fourth in the Sprint race and sixth in the feature race, elevating himself to the lofty position of fifth overall after the first two rounds. Top end speed is still an issue but it’s a refreshing sight to see Honda back at the sharp end, HRC Castrol rider Joan Mir also taking a brace of top ten finishes.

Indeed, with team-mate Luca Marini taking tenth, Honda had three riders in the top ten, a stark turnaround in their fortunes.

Struggles continue for KTM and Yamaha

If Honda are on the up, then the opposite is true for KTM and Yamaha, particularly the latter whose pre-season promise is rapidly disappearing. KTM have the fastest bike in a straight line, but chatter/vibration is their biggest problem, and while that exists having the fastest bike isn’t going to help them.

Jack Miller Image Credit Yamaha Racing

Getting the power to the ground or, to be more accurate, being unable to do that is their Achilles heel at present. Brad Binder had to work a lot harder than he would have liked to have secured seventh, one place of expected front runner Pedro Acosta, and whilst last year they were challenging for podiums on a regular basis they’re a long way off that happening at present.

Tech 3 riders Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini had another tough weekend, the latter finishing 14th and 17th. Vinales had a disastrous Sprint race with only class rookie Fermin Aldeguer on the second Gresini Racing Ducati finishing behind him, but did improve to 12th in the feature race. Finishing 22s behind the race winner in a 25-lap race though highlights how far off the pace they are.

Maverick Viñales Image Credit KTM Press Centre

Yamaha’s weekend was equally tough with only one top ten finish to their name, Fabio Quatararo taking tenth in the Sprint. Team-mate Alex Rins was the highest finisher in Sunday’s race, taking 11th with Jack Miller 13th and Quartararo, victim of being hit by an out-of-control Aprilia of Marco Bezzecchi at the first corner on the first lap, a place further back.

Having started watching motorcycle races all over the world form childhood, Phil Wain has been a freelance motorcycle journalist for almost 20 years and is features writer for a number of publications including BikeSport News, Classic Racer and Road Racing Ireland, as well as being a regular contributor to MCN and MCN Sport.

He is PR officer for a number of teams and riders at both the British Superbike Championship and International road races, including PBM Ducati, John McGuinness, KTS Racing and Jackson Racing. He is also heavily involved with the Isle of Man TT Races working with the race organisation, writing official press releases and race reports as well as providing the TV and radio broadcasting teams with statistical information.