After simply two weeks, pre-season testing for the 2025 MotoGP marketing campaign is over and in simply 14 days’ time bikes can be again on monitor at Buriram for observe forward of the Thai Grand Prix.
And Ducati can be doing so working manufacturing unit bikes that includes year-old engines, albeit with just a few tweaks the marque is refusing to speak about.
For the entire 5 days of testing we’ve had this February, the overarching storyline has been whether or not or not Ducati will ditch its GP25 engine for the GP24 motor that received 16 of 20 grands prix final season.
That call seemed clearer after day one at Buriram, and was confirmed on Thursday. A two-year engine freeze and never sufficient tangible beneficial properties with the 2025 engine pressured Ducati right into a cautious resolution to proceed with the GP24 unit.
As manufacturing unit riders do, each Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia saved particulars concerning the 2025 engine to a minimal. Bagnaia stated on Wednesday that Ducati had been unable to discover a good braking steadiness with the brand new engine, whereas Marquez famous it had “very weak factors”.
Bagnaia later admitted he’d been mendacity to the media and knew from the off the GP24 was possible going to be the race engine for this 12 months.
Ducati has sufficient current examples of pre-season engine dramas to have helped affect its resolution. A reasonably problematic 2022 testing part with the total GP22 engine led the manufacturing unit crew to modify to a hybrid model for the season, whereas the GP23 engine had a transparent weak spot underneath braking that was eradicated with the GP24.
The GP24 is well the very best bike Ducati has ever constructed, and is arguably the very best MotoGP bike ever. What many have considered as a headache this winter has truly been a luxurious for the world champion producer.
Ducati additionally confirmed that it was “an actual risk” that its manufacturing unit riders begin the 12 months with a 2024 engine in addition to 2024 aero and chassis. Bagnaia was a bit extra diplomatic, calling his present bike the “GP24.9”. However this has led many to sound alarm bells, claiming Ducati is standing nonetheless and this can be music to the ears of its rivals.
Effectively, not fairly. The typical profitable margin of the GP24 throughout the 2024 marketing campaign in comparison with the closest non-GP24 was round 3.5s. Ducati’s rivals have taken a step over this winter, however no person finds that period of time from one 12 months to the subsequent.
2025 Buriram take a look at quickest laps per producer
Ducati – 1m28.855s (Marc Marquez)
Aprilia – 1m29.060s (Marco Bezzecchi)
KTM – 1m29.133s (Pedro Acosta)
Honda – 1m29.133s (Joan Mir)
Yamaha – 1m29.586s (Fabio Quartararo)
The Marquez brothers annexed the highest of the timesheets throughout each days of testing at Buriram, with Ducati finishing a clear sweep over the winter after Alex Marquez was quickest in Barcelona and Sepang on his Gresini-run GP24. Marc Marquez, on the hybrid GP25, set the tempo on the finish of the Buriram take a look at, albeit lacking out on the lap report by 0.155s. Getting his time assault in late on the ultimate day nearly actually performed an element on this.
However, outright occasions apart, it was within the race working the place Marc Marquez actually caught the attention and additional quashed any notion that Ducati’s warning will backfire.
Marc Marquez, 2025 Buriram MotoGP Check
2025 Buriram take a look at future averages
(Above 20 laps)
Marc Marquez – Ducati – 1m30.378s (23 laps)
Alex Marquez – Ducati – 1m31.071s (23 laps)
Pedro Acosta – KTM – 1m31.016s (22 laps)
Brad Binder – KTM – 1m31.016s (22 laps)
Johann Zarco – Honda – 1m31.559s (23 laps)
(Under 20 laps)
Marco Bezzecchi – Aprilia – 1m30.093s (13 laps)
Joan Mir – Honda – 1m30.338s (13 laps)
Fabio Quartararo – Yamaha – 1m30.361s (12 laps)
Franco Morbidelli – Ducati – 1m31.019s (18 laps)
Marquez common run tempo throughout the 23 laps was 0.518s faster than the very best race lap ever on the Thai GP, which was set by Marco Bezzecchi on a GP22-spec Ducati in 2023. At no level in his run did Marquez drop into the 1m31s, both.
He moved to brush this off considerably, noting that Alex Marquez would have been nearer to him had it not been for electronics points through the Gresini rider’s run. Both approach, Ducati comes out of it trying stronger than the remainder nonetheless.
There’s a noticeable absentee from the above race simulation knowledge. Bagnaia endured a tough opening day of the Buriram take a look at the place nothing actually labored for him on his bike. That led to him “ranging from zero” on the ultimate day, although his crew was capable of flip issues round and get him feeling assured once more.
Fifth general on the timesheets, he didn’t full any significant race run programme – although was pleased with how his tempo was on used tyres.
Ducati parking its 2025 chassis might come as one thing of a shock, given Bagnaia wished it launched final 12 months after testing it. Which will nicely haven’t been the very best transfer, based mostly on this pre-season.
That chassis was examined at Misano final September, a monitor Bagnaia is aware of just like the again of his hand, the place the Ducati has all the time labored nicely, and was coated in rubber from the earlier race weekend. The identical was true of when it was trialled at Barcelona final November.
Unsurprisingly, in several grip circumstances at Buriram, the chassis didn’t fairly carry out as anticipated. Shelving it, in addition to the 2025 aero, is not any unhealthy factor. The primary 4 races are at tracks that by no means actually paint a real reflection of how the season will unfold, with Buriram, Rio Honda, COTA and Lusail all throwing up distinctive challenges.
This stuff can be rolled out once more for the post-Spanish Grand Prix take a look at at Jerez on the finish of April. In 2022 and 2023, breakthroughs at that Jerez take a look at proved pivotal in Bagnaia’s title prices in these seasons.
As clearly confirmed this winter, leaping onto what is kind of the 2024 package deal will nonetheless make sure the manufacturing unit Ducati crew is aggressive within the early rounds. And Bagnaia did supply up a worrying discovery for Ducati’s rivals.
“I used to be fairly satisfied from the beginning that the ’24 was higher,” he stated.
“Then we labored, we tried to enhance however for the primary day in Malaysia me and Marc had been of the identical opinion that the GP24 was nonetheless a bit higher. We tried to enhance loads on the braking, however we didn’t succeed. So, we labored loads right here with the ’24 and we understood that we nonetheless have some margin on it. So, that is nice.”
To nonetheless “have margin” on a motorcycle that was already at such a excessive degree ought to be excessive reward Gigi Dall’Igna takes to coronary heart whereas he wrestles with the frustration of his different 2025 developments not fairly working as hoped…
