Was anyone really surprised? Pre-season testing didn’t show anything conclusively, but – and maybe it was just me – there seemed to be a sense of inevitability about how Marc Marquez would go when it came to lights-out when racing proper resumed.
But surely no-one, least of all Marquez himself, could have predicted such complete and effortless dominance; pole position, Sprint and Main race victories; maximum points from the opening round. I’m not sure who took the fastest lap, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it was Marquez.
It all looked so easy. Even when Marquez M abruptly slowed and allowed his brother and rival Marquez A through, it quickly became clear that at worst it had been a missed gear and nothing more serious, given the way that he then shadowed every move Alex made, before taking the lead again and setting off into the distance without ever looking as if he was on the ragged edge.
As we now know, Marquez had been sent to the line with too low a front tyre pressure, an odd situation given that it was highly likely that he would lead from the front as he had in the Sprint race. Running in clear air, and riding well within his limit, he was in danger of incurring a penalty for too long with too low a pressure, so he let his brother through so he could run in his dirty air and get temperature into his front tyre. With that achieved, he calmly took the lead again, and that was that.
There are a lot of whingers who, for whatever reason, don’t like Marquez M; they had better find a way of liking him because this isn’t going to be his last victory this year so, if they’re going to enjoy the 2025 season, they’d better learn to accept it!
Meanwhile, Bagnaia had nothing to offer to counter the pace of the Marquez brothers ahead of him and even, in the Sprint race, had to defend against an incredible performance from rookie Ai Ogura on the satellite Trackhouse Aprilia. Bagnaia has every right to be worried for the rest of the season if this is how Marquez M can perform straight out of the box. Let’s not forget, also, that the next two races, in Argentina and the USA, are two of Marc’s favourite tracks.
Alex Marquez could be forgiven for being despondent at coming so close to his maiden GP victory and realising that his lead in the Main race was not through his own talent but because Marc needed it to be that way, but second on the grid and two second places in the races is nothing to be ashamed of (and what he predicted for himself at the beginning of the weekend). Look at it this way, he was an honest second – not gained through the misfortune of others – and managed to keep Bagnaia at bay for every racing lap. There’s no lack of skill there, just bad luck at having the best rider of his generation on the best bike of the moment as an opponent. Even if it’s your brother, it will still be hard for Alex to (potentially) see him lifting yet another title trophy. Of course, it’s going to be a long season and, as we know all too well, anything can and probably will happen, but right now, the signs aren’t good for anyone who’s not named Marc Marquez.
Bagnaia, by his own admission, was not riding at his best this weekend, and that is simply something you can’t do when Marquez M is your teammate. Bagnaia’s calm and kindly demeanour can’t entirely hide the extremely tough fighter underneath, and it is inconceivable that he won’t take the fight to Marquez more convincingly in the coming races. He proved in 2022 that he can overcome a large points deficit, but that’s not going to work every time, and he just can’t afford to fall any further behind Marquez if he is to be a title challenger this year.
So much for the podium finishers but, with this being the first race of a new season, there was plenty to talk about all the way down the field and you can’t start anywhere other than with yet another brilliant rookie performance, following on from Pedro Acosta last year (second place in only his second race). The protagonist this year was Ai Ogura on a satellite Aprilia RS-GP, run by Trackhouse racing and sporting one of the best liveries in recent memory – the light blue and orange colours of the Gulf Oil company.
Even with Bagnaia admitting he was riding below his best, he wasn’t left for dead by the Marquez brothers, but neither was he getting away from Ogura, who claimed a remarkable fourth place in the Sprint race and fifth in the Main race; that’s the best rookie performance since Marc Marquez in 2013. He was by far the best of the Aprilias and, if that is an indication of how good the Aprilia is, then we can’t wait for Jorge Martin to return in America, even if it’s by no means guaranteed that the RS-GP will suit the reigning champion.
Marco Bezzecchi on the factory Aprilia might have been beaten in both races by the rookie Ogura, but he messed up his weekend by crashing in qualifying, meaning he had to battle his way through both races, rather than having the clear air in which to demonstrate his speed. His wild start in the Sprint race with excessive wheelspin didn’t help his cause. The Aprilia clearly has the speed to run with the Ducatis so, if Bezzecchi can qualify cleanly, then he could spring a surprise or two.
Enea Bastiannini won the Sprint race here last year, which will make it all the more galling that his Sprint race time this year, albeit on a different bike – the KTM RC16 against the Ducati GP24 – was a full 27 seconds slower! 12th in the Sprint and ninth in the Main race show that there is a lot of work to be done for the ex-factory Ducati rider. His teammate in the Tech3 team, Maverick Viñales, had an even worse weekend, finishing 14th and 16th, battling in the Main race with the Thai rookie, Somkiat Chantra on the LCR Honda.
Regarding the factory KTMs, it wasn’t the most encouraging start for the Austrian manufacturer, even taking away all the pre-season confusion about the very existence of the brand, which can’t have been a calm environment in which to prepare. Brad Binder managed eighth place in both races, while Pedro Acosta finished sixth in the Sprint and second last in the Main race after sliding out, and it’s an uncomfortable fact that the midfield might be the RC16’s natural place in the pecking order. Buriram offers completely different conditions to many of the races on the calendar, however, so maybe it’s premature to condemn the KTMs to underperformance all year; they might well spring a surprise or two, but as for running consistently at the front with the Ducatis, it looks a tall order.
In practice and qualifying, it looked as if progress had been made by Yamaha but the races belied that impression, for all Jack Miller’s efforts, which ended with a crash in the Sprint race while running sixth and 11th in the Main race. Quartararo finished seventh in the Sprint but could only manage 15th in the Main, while Alex Rins could only manage two 17th-place finishes. About the only thing Yamaha can take away from Thailand, is the fact that top speed is no longer an embarrassment.
It was another weekend to forget for Honda, neither Joan Mir, Luca Marini, Johann Zarco nor Chantra looking at all competitive. For both Yamaha and Honda, 2027’s new rules can’t come soon enough.
So, the long wait is over and we’re back in business, even if that business looks to be largely similar to 2024 and 2023, with Ducati on top, Aprilia second best and the rest messing around behind. The least we can hope for is an intra-team battle between Marquez M and Bagnaia, with the satellite Ducati riders causing an upset or three and, hopefully, Aprilia getting stuck in. Quite how quickly Jorge Martin will be able to get up to speed will be an interesting storyline from America onwards, but it’s hard to envisage, even at this early point in the season, any plot other than a factory Ducati walkover in 2025.
