Cost vs show: MotoGP’s eternal battle for its season-openers

MotoGP’s 2025 season is officially underway after last weekend’s Thai Grand Prix, bringing an end to a several week stay for the series at the Buriram track.

MotoGP held two official pre-season tests this winter, all of them in February, with three days taking place at the start of the month at Sepang in Malaysia.

The following week, MotoGP headed to Thailand for two final days of testing at Buriram before kicking the season off at the same venue on 28 February - 2 March.

MotoGP starting the season at the same track it concluded testing is nothing new. The last time it didn’t do this was in 2022, when it held its last pre-season test at the new Mandalika track in Indonesia before beginning the campaign in Qatar.

The effect this has on the opening round is that everyone comes into Friday practice already pretty much dialled in, having had several days of testing to gather data already.

Often, this makes the racing closer at the first round. However, at the 2025 Thai GP this wasn’t case as Marc Marquez controlled both the sprint and the grand prix (albeit having while having to drop to second in the latter to avoid a tyre pressure penalty).

The factory Ducati rider was asked if MotoGP should look to start its seasons away from the same track it tested on in the winter, which led to an interesting observation from Marquez.

“Starting in a circuit where you already test means it’s more difficult to overtake and it’s more difficult to make the difference, because from FP1 everyone is braking on the [right] place, everybody has the correct set-up,” he said.

“Even this morning (speaking on Saturday) I tried to improve the good pace we had and I took a step back because it was not the way. But in the end, we need to understand also the price, the money, the budget. I mean, it’s easier to test before the first GP at the same circuit because for the teams - especially the satellite teams - it’s a big help.”

KTM rider Pedro Acosta echoed these comments, noting: “At the end, you come here with the work done more or less, you know what you need. For me, the real first GP will come in Argentina to see where we are and everything.

“But we need to save money also. This championship is not cheap and we need to save money in some ways. But I think we should have the first race in another track.”

How competitive have MotoGP season-openers been in recent years?

Last weekend’s Thai GP saw the top 15 - those who score points - in the grand prix covered by 26.456s, while the winning margin was 1.732s and the spread covering the podium was 2.398s.

The latter figures show a reasonably tight top three. But, as Crash analysis showed following the race, Marc Marquez was on course to win by just under four seconds had he not been forced to drop behind brother Alex Marquez to increase his front tyre pressure to avoid a penalty.

Read more: Why Marc Marquez's MotoGP rivals were spared a brutal beatdown in Thai GP

Marc Marquez had been in strong form from the final pre-season test in Thailand and was firm favourite to win the grand prix coming into it.

Last year’s Qatar Grand Prix saw Pecco Bagnaia win by 1.329s over KTM’s Brad Binder, while the top three was covered by 1.933s. The top 15 spread across 20.717s. While Bagnaia was put under some pressure, he wasn’t actually ever headed for an entire lap. The main battle was for second between Binder and Jorge Martin, with the latter on the losing end.

The 2023 season opened in Portugal, where the last test of the winter campaign took place. Bagnaia won again, but was shadowed 0.687s by Maverick Vinales. The podium was covered by 2.726s, while the top 14 (only 14 riders finished) was covered by 27.050s. Again, save for lap one, Bagnaia led every time across the line.

The 2022 Qatar GP is an interesting case to examine. With the field turning up to Lusail without prior testing there, Enea Bastianini was able to take his Gresini-run Ducati to a maiden grand prix victory by just 0.346s over Brad Binder on the KTM.

Pol Espargaro completed the podium for Honda, his last visit to the rostrum with the Japanese marque, in third and was just 1.351s behind Bastianini. While the top 15 was spread by 41.107s, that was largely down to the fact that the remaining classified runners were rookies. That race saw an actual overtake for the win, too, with Bastianini moving ahead of Espargaro on lap 17 of 22.

While Marc Marquez did have to overtake Alex Marquez in the 2025 Thai GP on lap 23 of 26, this was circumstantial. Bastianini at the 2022 Qatar GP came from fifth on the grid and chipped his way through the riders ahead to get to the top step of the podium.

The 2021 Qatar GP opener was highly competitive. Pre-season testing concluded at Lusail, while MotoGP would stay at the circuit for two races due to COVID-19 travel restrictions impacting the calendar that year.

The top three were covered by 1.129s, with Maverick Vinales winning by 1.092s. The top 15 was covered by just 16.422s and 10th-place was under 10 seconds from the race win. Again, this was a race that saw a rider come through the field to win, with Vinales starting from sixth and having to eventually overtake Bagnaia on lap 14.

The 2020 Spanish GP was a unique one. With COVID delaying the season to July, pre-season testing had actually originally finished in Qatar ahead of what was meant to be the curtain-raiser for the year at Lusail. A two-day test was scheduled for the week of the 2020 Spanish GP, which became the first round of the campaign, though this ultimately led to one of the most dominant winning margins of recent times at an opening race.

Fabio Quartararo was 4.603s up the road from Maverick Vinales at the chequered flag, while the podium was covered by 5.946s. Just under 40s split 15th from first.

Pre-COVID, the 2019 season began in Qatar after the final test at the same circuit. And it was a barnstormer. Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez engaged in a thrilling late battle that saw the latter go for a last corner lunge that ultimately didn’t pay off. Dovizioso won by 0.023s, while the top three was spread by 0.320s.

From first to 15th, 15.093s was the gap. For context, that would have put you a comfortable eighth in the 2025 Thai GP with KTM’s Binder 19.929s adrift of the lead in that position last weekend.

In theory, starting the season at the same place testing finished should create a reasonably exciting grand prix. The 2022 Qatar GP proved the opposite can be true, as that played into the hands of those on dialled in satellite bikes, but that is something of an outlier.

What the above data also shows is just how badly modern MotoGP bikes actually affect the racing. While aero was present on bikes in 2019, those fairings were not as advanced as they are now. Ride height devices still hadn’t been widely introduced either.

Perhaps some of the uncertainty that a normal race weekend produces is missing when a season starts at the same track where testing finished. But the dullness of the 2025 Thai GP weekend is more a result of regulation set that makes bikes harder to race with, while a Marc Marquez in unstoppable form certainly was a major contributing factor.