Ominous Casey Stoner 18-year record matched at 2025 Thailand MotoGP

A Casey Stoner record was matched at the 2025 Thailand MotoGP which is ominous for the rest of this season.

Marc Marquez matched the Stoner stat which has stood for 18 years.

Marquez became the first factory Ducati rider to win his debut grand prix for the manufacturer since Stoner in 2007.

Since then, other Ducati debutants have fallen short.

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo did not enjoy their stints, while even Francesco Bagnaia did not win his first race as a factory Ducati rider.

Marc Marquez matches Casey Stoner MotoGP record

The Thailand MotoGP was also Marquez's first season-opening win since 2014.

Remarkably it is 93 grand prix races since he last led the championship. That number seems to follow him around.

Marquez overcame a worry about a tyre pressure penalty, which forced him to drop back from the lead behind his brother Alex Marquez, to win in Buriram.

He started from pole position on an eye-catching first weekend wearing red.

It ended the record set by Stoner who left Honda for Ducati for the 2007 season.

Stoner would win the season-opening Qatar MotoGP. He would go on to claim three of the first four grands prix.

Stoner would unexpectedly win the MotoGP title in 2007, in his first season on a Ducati.

Back then, the Italian manufacturer’s project was in a vastly different place to today.

Stoner was unfancied at the time, whereas Marquez is hotly tipped for the 2025 title.

He has moved from Gresini, the Ducati satellite team which gave him access to a year-old Desmosedici.

Now he has the same material as Pecco Bagnaia (while champion Jorge Martin is out with an injury, and must return to adapt to an Aprilia).

Marquez’s first win of 2025 could be the first of many.

And if history is anything to go by, could hint at a famous ninth title.