Scary truth about Marc Marquez revealed in Argentina MotoGP analysis

It only took Marc Marquez two rounds in MotoGP 2025 to make history as a factory Ducati rider. 

For the first time ever, a rider for the brand has opened up a campaign with back-to-back grand prix victories. His Argentina Grand Prix success also tied him third all-time with Angel Nieto on the winners’ list.

The Argentina weekend went to type, with Marquez claiming pole and winning both the sprint and the grand prix. But just like in Thailand, he didn’t run away on Sunday. What was different about the Argentina race was the fact that he didn’t willingly drop behind his brother Alex Marquez.

On lap four, having gotten the holeshot from pole, Marc Marquez made a mistake and allowed the Gresini Ducati ridden by his younger brother to move into the lead.

Getting back ahead didn’t prove easy, either. In fact, Marc Marquez had a massive moment going through Turn 11 over a bump that almost threw him from his factory Ducati on lap 15 of 25. His first attempt at retaking the lead also didn’t pan out, as he ran wide into Turn 5 on lap 18.

On lap 21, the championship leader eased past prior to the braking zone and scarpered away to the chequered flag by 1.3s. Alex Marquez had to settle for second again, but family celebrations afterwards suggested he wasn’t too bitter about this.

Alex Marquez’s pace is impressive, but Marc Marquez has something extra

All weekend at Termas de Rio Hondo Marc Marquez had been backing his younger brother to be a major threat in the grand prix. It’s a circuit that has been kind to Alex in the past, as he took his first MotoGP pole in Argentina in 2023 and went on to score his first podium as a Ducati rider in that grand prix.

The Gresini rider was also seemingly able to optimise his GP24 to the layout better than his elder brother, who found himself at a disadvantage in his usually strongest area.

“He [Alex] set up the bike maybe more for the corner speed and flowing more, and I set up the bike more for the hard brake points, which is my strong point,” Marc Marquez explained. 

“I had a bit more on the hard brake points, but when I was behind him I wasn’t able to brake like I wanted.

“But he was flowing a lot and honestly speaking every lap I was thinking about Turn 6, because it was a left corner and I said ‘it’s not possible that he is faster than me there’. But he was. 

"And I tried different lines and different ways to open the gas and different ways to put the body. But every lap he was faster there. In some corners he was faster, but Turn 6 was the one I was thinking about all the race how to improve.”

A specialist on anti-clockwise circuits, the fact Marc Marquez couldn’t use that against his brother removed an overtaking opportunity from him on the run through Turn 6 into Turn 7. It also almost certainly led to the factory Ducati rider’s massive Turn 15 moment.

Over the course of the race, the average pace difference between the two was minuscule. Alex Marquez was only 0.005s slower than Marc Marquez, and was actually marginally faster from laps 4 to 20 when he led his factory Ducati rival. Impressively, both set their fastest laps on the 19th of 25 tours, with Marc Marquez slightly quicker here with a 1m38.243s versus a 1m38.313s.

Marc Marquez noted after the race that he briefed his brother on what his strategy would be for the race, with Alex following it to the letter even when he was leading.

Marc Marquez once again stated confidently that Alex Marquez will win races in 2025. And certainly, his opportunities will come if he continues to ride like he did in Argentina. But those final five laps did reveal an uncomfortable truth about Marc Marquez.

As was the case in Thailand after he’d spent the necessary amount of time behind his brother boosting his front tyre pressure, once in the lead Marc Marquez bolted. When he hit the front again in Argentina on lap 21, he did the same, his pace difference striking compared to Alex Marquez’s in this phase.

Alex Marquez said that when his brother started to push harder, the Gresini rider was “nearly crashing all the corners”. For him, it’s clear “he’s able to be more on the limit in the last part of the race”, and the 0.299s pace difference average in the final five laps backs this up.

Getting in front of Marc Marquez and disrupting his rhythm is looking like the only way to beat him right now, but his form towards the end of races makes this task harder. It’s also worth noting that the factory Ducati rider hasn’t crashed once this season yet, suggesting he’s yet to truly find the limits of a bike that already seems perfectly suited to him.

MotoGP title battle lines redrawn

While Buriram and Termas de Rio Hondo have typically been good tracks for Alex Marquez, his consistency has been impressive. Just 16 points behind Marc Marquez right now, the Gresini rider is being touted by his brother as the “main opponent” for the title right now.

That is a kick in the shins for Pecco Bagnaia, whom Marc Marquez said all winter would be the rider to beat in 2025 and the reference within Ducati. But once again, Bagnaia turned up to a race in 2025 unable to fight his team-mate.

On the podium in the sprint, he was quickly cast adrift of the lead two as he was in Thailand. And on Sunday, he finished a grand prix off the podium for the first time since last year’s Americas GP in fourth. Closing down a soft-shod Franco Morbidelli in the latter stages, Bagnaia could do nothing to overhaul the VR46 Ducati rider.

Now 31 points down in the standings, Bagnaia and Ducati seem at a bit of a loss as to where to go from here. Bagnaia simply stated on Sunday that he doesn’t have his usual feeling on the Ducati, like he had last year when he won 11 grands prix. But if this is the level while he is not on form, it’s a major concern for his title hopes.

Bagnaia felt he his pace wasn’t far off that of Marc and Alex Marquez’s. But the reality is, his pace was good enough for fourth only. In the sprint he was 0.269s per lap slower than Marc Marquez, while in the grand prix he had only narrowed this to 0.210s. That was around 0.050s slower than Morbidelli, who battled fading soft rubber late on, and about the same quicker than the sister VR46 Ducati of Fabio Di Giannantonio.

The net result was a losing margin of 5.536s.

Maybe Bagnaia starts to come on form when MotoGP gets to Qatar, a circuit he has been strong at in recent years, and onwards into more familiar territory in Europe. But the work to do to get there is vast, all the while both Marquez brothers run away at the front…