MARC MARQUEZ 2025 MOTOGP CHAMPIONSHIP KEY MOMENTS

Worlds: Mike Ryan

Photos: MotoGP, Ducati Lenovo Team, Michelin

Marc Marquez’s achievement in winning the 2025 FIM MotoGP World Championship can’t be overstated. Yes, he was on the best bike on the grid, and with arguably the best team, but as shown in 2024, these elements don’t automatically guarantee success.

Prevailing against a defending champion, a team mate on a mission and many other fast riders, Marquez won his seventh MotoGP crown - six years after his previous title.

Marc Marquez 2025 MotoGP Championship key moments

As has been well reported, Marquez achieved six MotoGP World Championships in his first seven seasons in the premier class – 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. All of those were on an RC213V with the Repsol Honda factory team.

Everyone would have expected Marquez to finish on top again in 2020, but a crash in the opening round resulted in a broken right arm, setting off a chain of events that would stretch out for the next four years. Three surgeries on that arm in 2020 alone wiped out that season, while the recurrence of a double vision problem in 2021 saw an early end to that season, too. In the meantime, Suzuki, Yamaha and particularly Ducati were getting stronger, while Honda seemed to be getting weaker. As evidence of this, Marquez was winless on the RC213V in 2022 and 2023, leading to one of the biggest defections in MotoGP history.

The Switch

Walking away from a Honda contract worth millions of dollars, Marquez signed with the Gresini Racing Ducati satellite team for the 2024 MotoGP season. The smile on his face after that first test on the Ducati Desmosedici spoke volumes, with Marquez later explaining that the Ducati was a bike he believed he could win on, while the Honda wasn’t.

In took until the twelfth round of the 2024 season for that belief to manifest itself into a victory, but from there, Marquez would win or podium in five of the next eight rounds to finish third in that year’s championship.

Even before his first Grand Prix win with Gresini, Marquez had signed with the Ducati Lenovo Team for 2025. That meant he’d be on the latest Desmosedici (instead of a year-old model), with access to all the other benefits that come with being in a factory team, too.

With a winning team and winning bike for 2025, Marquez looked set to regain the form that characterised the early years of his premier class career.

While his 2025 season would end early following an injury at the Indonesian GP, Marquez was once again a World Champion. Here are the seven rounds that proved pivotal to his quest for a seventh premier class title.

Round 1 - Buriram, Thailand – A Smart Start

Coming into the 2025 season opener at Buriram, Marquez held a small advantage in being the only multiple winner at the Thai circuit, but his most recent victory was back in 2019.

Jorge Martin, the defending MotoGP World Champion who had switched from Prima Pramac Racing Ducati to the factory Aprilia team for 2025, was a non-starter at Buriram, having injured himself in pre-season testing. That meant Aprilia’s hopes would be shouldered by their other new signing for 2025, Marco Bezzecchi.

Initially, Ducati’s “dream team” of Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia and Marquez couldn’t have been further apart on the time sheets at Buriram, with Bagnaia thirteenth and Marquez second fastest. Even Marquez said he wasn’t expecting his ‘first day of school’ on the Desmosedici GP25 to be like this.

Qualifying saw Marquez secure pole with a 1m28.782s lap - the 67th of his career, but only his second at Buriram. Marc’s brother, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing), and Bagnaia completed the front row, the latter having to progress through Q1.

In the Sprint, Marquez bolted to an early lead, setting up a 0.58 second gap by the end of the opening lap, then building on that to win by more than 1.1 seconds by the chequered flag.

The Grand Prix seemed like it would be more of the same, with Marquez leading his brother by more than 1.3 seconds on lap 6. However, he slowed dramatically on the next lap, causing confusion amongst everyone. It would later transpire that Marquez received a low tyre pressure warning on his dash. If he continued as is, he would have incurred a significant time penalty – perhaps enough to rob him of a win. As such, allowing his brother to take the lead, then hanging off his tail for the next 15 laps as the tyre pressure stabilised, was a very smart move. With four laps to go, Marquez regained the lead, then built a margin of 1.73 seconds at the finish.

“It was truly the perfect weekend,” Marquez said of his debut with the Ducati factory team. “Results aside, the important thing is the incredible feeling I have with the bike and the team.”

On the tyre pressure issue, Marquez added: “I noticed I was at the limit with regards to the front-end tyre pressure and I had no choice but to give up one position. It was really hard to be in Alex’s slipstream with this heat, as I struggled to breath properly. I waited for the right moment to retake the lead and create the right margin, and things went as I had hoped.”

With pole, Sprint and GP win, Buriram couldn’t have gone any better for Marquez. It was his first season-opening win since 2014, and while only a minor consideration at this stage, it also saw Marquez lead the MotoGP World Championship for the first time since 2019.

Marquez Round 1 stats

Qualifying: Pole

Sprint: First

Grand Prix: First

Championship: First - 37 points (8 ahead of second place)

Round 4 - Lusail, Qatar – The Beginning of Belief

Marquez’s unbeaten start to the 2025 season came to an end in Round 3 at the Circuit of the Americas when he crashed out of the Grand Prix. While able to remount, bike damage, including a missing footpeg, saw him complete only a few more laps before retiring. That DNF saw the championship lead go to Alex Marquez, with Bagnaia improving to within 12 points of Marc in the standings.

Lusail had been something of a bogey track for Marquez, with only one win there, back in 2014. His attempt to add to that total started with the top time in both Free Practise sessions, then a new lap record of 1m50.499s in qualifying to secure pole. This was only Marquez’s second pole at Lusail, with the previous one in 2014.

In the Sprint, Marquez led every lap and finished more than 1.5 seconds ahead of his brother, moving him back into the championship lead.

Under lights for the Grand Prix, Marquez struggled initially, colliding with his brother at turn 1, then ceding the lead to Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina VR46 Enduro Racing Team Ducati) and Maverick Vinales (Red Bull KTM Tech3). It was only on lap 16 of 22 that Marquez finally wrestled the lead from Vinales, but from there, he built an unbeatable lead. At the chequered flag, the winning margin was 1.8 seconds over second-placed Vinales, who would later be demoted to 14th for a tyre pressure infringement of the type that Marquez had cleverly avoided at Buriram.

Speaking some months later, Marquez said that his performance at Lusail, after the DNF at CotA, was the first time he felt that he could win the 2025 championship.

Marquez Round 4 stats

Qualifying: Pole

Sprint: First

Grand Prix: First

Championship: First - 123 points (17 ahead of second place)

Round 8 – Aragon, Spain – A Dominant Display

While Marquez had been undeniably impressive to this point, including six wins in the first seven Sprints, he’d also gone winless in the previous three Grands Prix.

Aragon was the venue for Marquez’s first win with Ducati in 2024, so he would have felt confident of repeating the dose in 2025. A dominant performance started with the fastest times in both Free Practise sessions, then setting a new lap record of 1m45.704s in qualifying to secure pole – his seventh in eleven starts at Aragon.

Although his brother and Morbidelli got the better of Marquez early in the 11-lap Sprint, he was in front by lap 6, then built on that to win by more than 2 seconds.

The Grand Prix saw Marquez get the holeshot and ride flawlessly for the next 23 laps. His lead was beyond 1 second by lap 8, then 2+ seconds by lap 15. Marquez’s fourth win of the 2025 season was also the seventh of his career at Aragon.

“I managed to put together the type of race I wanted, as I could push harder when I felt like it,” Marquez explained. “These are the type of races in which – if you want to fight for the title – it is crucial to ensure the best possible result without making mistakes. It was the perfect weekend.”

Marquez’s dominance at Aragon saw him top every session – the first for any rider at any venue since 2015. The last rider to do that was also Marquez!

Aragon marked the start of an incredible streak for Marquez, which would see him go unbeaten in both the Sprint and Grand Prix for the next six rounds.

Marquez Round 8 stats

Qualifying: Pole

Sprint: First

Grand Prix: First

Championship - First - 233 points (32 ahead of second place)

Round 9, Mugello, Italy – Battling in Ducati Homeland

Like Aragon, Mugello was a venue where Marquez had only one previous premier class victory, achieved in 2014, while Bagnaia had won the last three GPs held at the Italian circuit.

The expected battle between the Ducati factory team mates came to a head in Qualifying. Marquez had to set a new lap record to do it, but he pipped Bagnaia for pole – the difference between the two being just 0.059 seconds. It was also Marquez’s 100th career pole - a first in MotoGP.

In what he later described as a “confused” start to the Sprint, Marquez was distracted on the grid and fell back to sixth before recovering to be third by the end of the opening lap. He was soon back on track, taking the lead on lap 4 of 11, then going on to win with a comfortable 1.44 seconds over his brother.

In what has been described as the best battle of the 2025 season, the Grand Prix got underway in hot conditions with the Marquez brothers and Bagnaia getting their elbows out. Marquez made contact with an aggressive Bagnaia, before pulling ahead on lap 9. The Spaniard then built a gap of more than a second by lap 14, extending it to 1.94 seconds at the chequered flag.

“Track conditions were quite tricky, and maintaining a very fast rhythm was risky,” Marquez explained. “If anyone had closed the gap, Plan B was simply to bring the bike home.”

At this round, Marquez’s fifth ‘double’ of Sprint and Grand Prix win equalled the most in a season (set by Bagnaia in 2024), while for numerologists, the GP win at Mugello was the 93rd for #93 across all classes.

Marquez Round 9 stats

Qualifying: Pole

Sprint: First

Grand Prix: First

Championship: First - 270 points (40 ahead of second place)

Round 11 – Sachsenring, Germany – Overtaking Ago

With eight previous wins, Marquez had owned the Sachsenring, but this venue also saw one of the lowest points of his Honda career. At the 2023 German GP, Marquez crashed five times, later stating he came close to retiring at that point.

In 2025, Marquez came to the Sachsenring in much better shape – physically and mentally. A winning bike and a 68-point championship helped! Topping both Free Practise sessions, Marquez then took pole in the wet – his eighth at the circuit.

The Sprint would be wet, too, which saw Marquez overcook his entry into the first corner and drop back to fifth, while Bezzecchi took the lead. Despite nearly crashing on lap 9, Marquez kept the Desmosedici upright. A gap to Bezzecchi that had stood at almost 1.5 seconds was closed to just 0.091 seconds coming into the final lap. In a year of setting records, Marquez won his tenth Sprint of the 2025 season, overtaking the previous record of nine, achieved by Jorge Martin in 2023.

In a Grand Prix notable for its attrition (nine riders crashed out), Marquez made a perfect start from pole. The Spaniard then stayed well ahead of the drama unfolding behind him, cruising to a 6+ second win, engaging in a touch of ‘aura farming’ as he crossed the line!

“I really wanted this victory at the Sachsenring because it’s a track that suits me,” Marquez said. “The asphalt was slippery, but I rode well and stayed focussed. The crash marks made me concentrate even more.”

The GP win, Marquez’s 69th, moved him to second on the all-time 500cc/MotoGP winner’s list, ahead of the legendary Giacomo Agostini, with only Valentino Rossi now ahead of him.

Marquez Round 11 stats

Qualifying: Pole

Sprint: First

Grand Prix: First

Championship: First - 344 points (83 ahead of second place)

Round 13 - Spielberg, Austria – Taming the Bull

Given Marquez’s long history of success, it’s surprising to know he had never won at Spielberg, aka the Red Bull Ring. Since the Austrian circuit was added to the MotoGP calendar in 2016, Marquez’s best result had been second - in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

After topping the timesheets in Free Practise 1 and 2, Marquez crashed in qualifying, meaning he would start from fourth – his equal lowest grid position of the 2025 season.

A dramatic start to the Sprint saw Marquez improve to second within a few corners, but Alex Marquez was consistently lapping faster. It took until lap 10 of the 14-lap Sprint for the #93 to gain the lead, which he converted to another win – his twelfth Sprint victory of the season.

In the early laps of the Grand Prix, Bezzecchi set up a commanding lead as Bagnaia fought with Marquez, while a long lap penalty for Alex took him out of the running.

It took a long time – lap 20 of 28 - for Marquez to overtake Bezzecchi, but when he did, the Italian had no answer and Marquez would take his first ever win at the Red Bull Ring.

“I was obviously eager to win here,” Marquez explained. “When I got asked what the goal at this track was, I said that, with the ‘red bike,’ it was the win, as this is the bike against which I had lost many times before at this track.”

The “double” at Austria was Marquez’s sixth in a row and ninth for the season. The result also gave Marquez a ‘if I can win here, I can win anywhere’ confidence as he edged closer to the championship.

Marquez Round 13 stats

Qualifying: Fourth

Sprint: First

Grand Prix: First

Championship: First - 418 points (142 ahead of second place)

Round 17 - Motegi, Japan – Return to Glory

The 2023 Japanese GP was where Marquez made the decision to leave Honda. In a stinging criticism back then, he said that the RC213V was now incapable of a Top 10 finish, let alone a win.

Coming into the 2025 Japanese GP, Marquez was in a much better place with Ducati, not least because he had 11 GP wins and a 182-point championship lead.

Being off the pace across Free Practise and Qualifying indicated Marquez’s focus was now firmly on the title. That caution extended to the Sprint, where he remained in fourth place for the bulk of the race before finishing second.

In the Grand Prix, Marquez needed to finish at least six points ahead of his brother to secure the championship at this round. Off the line, he settled into third behind Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and would be content there for the first ten laps. Advancing to second as Acosta’s tyres deteriorated, and with his brother in sixth, Marquez held that place to take his seventh MotoGP World Championship – 2,184 days after his sixth. Those six years between championships is the longest in MotoGP history, eclipsing the four years between Casey Stoner’s 2007 and 2011 titles.

With his pitboard stating ‘historia esta seguimos’ (we continue this story) as he crossed the line, Marquez was then the centre of an elaborate ceremony that brought the champion to tears.

“It’s hard to find the words to describe the emotions I’m feeling,” Marquez said after the celebrations finished. “After the challenges and the injuries of 2020, I continued to fight and I can now say I’m at peace with myself.”