Ducati bring the heat as Thailand trembles to MotoGP
Into the red zone. The Ducati Lenovo factory team coated MotoGP red in all-out victory – Pole Position, Sprint and Grand Prix – and double trophy glory in Thailand with Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia proving that supremacy counts. Sunlight bounced off the glasses of the Spaniard and the Italian from the plinths of the podium while the cheers of the 99,700 Thai fans rang out at Buriram.
2025 MotoGP pumped-up the mercury literally and figuratively as the longest season in 77 years of FIM World Championship history got underway at the Chang International Circuit. With a track temperature in the high 50s (Celsius) the series could have cooked eggs on the asphalt of the 3.1km layout. Instead, round one of twenty-two served up a proper ‘scramble’ of speed, attrition and extreme physics and brought another engaging campaign of the world’s fastest motorcycle racing series up to the boil.
MotoGP first ventured to Thailand in 2018. The flat and modern facility lies a five-hour hike northeast of the capital of Bangkok but the fans arrived to the venue in droves and packed out the covered grandstands that offered respite from the oppression of the sun. The 2025 opener was the sixth GP to round Buriram…but the 22 riders already had fresh references for the race thanks to the second and final pre-season test that took place at the same circuit two weeks previously.
Eight times world champion Marc Marquez laid down his marker from the first practice sessions. He carried his menace into the first Quali of the year, a first Pole Position for the factory Ducati Lenovo team, and then a comfortable Sprint victory ahead of his brother Alex and Bagnaia: the Italian still trying to find optimum feeling with the Sprint setting of the Desmosedici.
13 laps stretched to 26 for the Grand Prix on Sunday but even warmer air raised concerns about the length of the race and the effects of the heat. In the end the grid formed-up, and braced for a grilling from the sun, the surface, the exhaust haze and the furnace of the bikes themselves. Marquez controlled proceedings for the first half, and then slid behind Alex; carefully managing his front tire pressure. He then pulled in front once more with a dicey move into Turn 12 and the final three laps. Bagnaia was a shadow to the Marquez family and couldn’t quite get close enough for a late attack. P3 was sufficient reward.
Buriram 2025 was a milestone moment for Marquez on his factory Ducati debut: the first time he’d won the opening race of the season for 11 years. It was also the first time that #93 has led the championship for 93 Grands Prix. For Bagnaia, Thailand was a case of mild frustration but a steady course towards the next opportunity to win.
“I wasn’t even close to stopping the brothers today,” he said. “I used Friday to finish our ‘testing’ here and then it was a bit too late for the rest of the weekend. I think Marc played a bit with us here and I need to improve and learn how to close the gap because I wasn’t in the best shape to fight with them. I’m not here to finish 3rd.”
VR46’s Franco Morbidelli used the might and mastery of Ducati power to take a bright 4th. Teammate Fabio Di Giannantoniorode in Thailand just seventeen days after collarbone surgery (courtesy of a crash at the Sepang test that forced the Italian to miss all the pre-season prep time). Diggia gained plenty of credit for a brave top ten result. Aprilia’s new star – and lone hope in the absence of world champion Jorge Martin, who is nursing a broken scaphoid – Marco Bezzecchi slid off the distinctive black RSGP twice in practice and spun-up from the grid in the Sprint but was more resolute on Sunday to walk away with 6th.
“4th was the maximum we could do today from our starting position,” said Morbidelli. “The team convinced me to use the soft front tire and it was the right decision because it enabled me to make the passes I needed to make, which were very risky in these kinds of temperatures. It was really difficult! As soon as I reached Pecco I made a mistake and had to breathe again, take a step back and bring the bike to P4.”
“We were explosive today!” he added of his fiery start.
Elsewhere the renewed and bolstered Yamaha line-up showed further progression with their competitiveness. Jack Miller represented the 2024 title-winning Pramac team with aplomb by capturing P11. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo had a nightmare with grip and was 15th for the final point at Buriram.
Testing, launches, Grand Prix: Thailand has flavoured MotoGP with its distinctive passion for the sport. Bike racing is a big deal in this corner of the world, and that’s what made Buriram such an appealing site to get throttles pinned. The show is now running. The world championship embarks on a major flex in the coming weeks with trips to Argentina (and more zeal from a rabid fanbase who have been denied the spectacle at Termas Rio Hondo last year) and then the United States also on the slate in March.
