Analysis: Alex Marquez closes gap on Marc Marquez – but how?

Alex Marquez has made his best-ever begin to a MotoGP marketing campaign, ending second behind brother Marc Marquez within the opening 4 races of 2025.

On the similar stage final season, Alex had simply 13 factors on the GP23. This 12 months, with the GP24, he has already amassed 58.

This 12 months’s bike is clearly way more aggressive than the satellite tv for pc equipment utilized by each brothers as team-mates at Gresini final season.

However whereas Marc has gained all of the races and brought each pole positions, when it comes to uncooked efficiency features, Alex has benefited essentially the most from the change to the GP24.

The numbers: How a lot has Alex Marquez closed the hole?

To estimate the size of Alex’s enchancment, we in contrast the typical hole between the brothers as team-mates final season with their qualifying and race outcomes this 12 months, with Marc now on the manufacturing facility group.

Solely classes held in formally dry circumstances, and the place each brothers completed a race with out falling, have been included. Marc’s 16-second post-race tyre strain penalty at Assen was additionally eliminated.

The figures don’t take into account a variety of different components together with totally different tyre selections and incidents reminiscent of being compelled vast or serving in-race penalties.

However the general development reveals that, whereas Alex was already an in depth match for Marc in qualifying final 12 months, outpacing him in seven dry classes, he has caught up massively in race efficiency thus far this season:

*Dry classes solely, races each riders completed with out falling and so on.

Final season, Alex completed inside 2.8 seconds of Marc in only one dry grand prix (Germany, +0.530s).

The Dash deficit was even larger, given they’re solely half-length races, though Alex inflicted his solely race defeat on Marc on the Barcelona finale. In any other case, Sachsenring at +2.920s was the closest he received.

However in 2025, Alex has averaged simply 1.044s behind Marc in Sprints and 1.547s in full races, a drastic enchancment from the 7.804s and 10.198s deficits throughout final season.

It’s an identical story in the one race thus far that may be instantly in comparison with final 12 months: The Buriram Dash. Marc beat Alex by 4.738s as team-mates in 2024, however the margin was just one.185s this 12 months.

How exhausting is Marc Marquez pushing?

One concept for Alex’s sudden closeness is that, now they’re combating for wins, Marc is pacing himself – driving as exhausting as essential to take victory, reasonably than pushing to chase down quicker riders, usually the case on final 12 months’s GP23.

In different phrases, Marc’s race tempo is being set by his nearest rival; Alex, who has led giant components of each grands prix earlier than being overtaken by Marc.

Marc, nevertheless, insists he’s pushing to the restrict, revealing he even thought-about settling for second in Argentina:

“I’m impressed in regards to the degree of Alex. He was driving tremendous easy, tremendous quick. In a single level of the race, I had some moments and stated, ‘Immediately second place is sufficient’. However then with the used tyre, I began to catch him once more and I attacked.”

Additional proof of Alex’s private enchancment is that he’s now outperforming all the remainder of the Ducati riders, together with double world champion Francesco Bagnaia:

Alex was solely eighth in final 12 months’s championship, ending degree on factors with Franco Morbidelli and simply forward of Fabio Di Giannantonio, who missed races because of harm.

Why is Alex Marquez so quick in 2025?

So what has modified? Does the GP24 naturally swimsuit Alex’s driving type? Has Gresini discovered a superior set-up?

Marc believes the reply may lie in how Alex has tailored his bike for cornering pace.

“In Argentina, he arrange the bike possibly extra for the nook pace and flowing components, and I arrange the bike a little bit bit extra for the exhausting braking factors, which is my stronger level.

“However he was flowing lots. Actually, each lap I used to be enthusiastic about flip six as a result of it’s a left nook, and I stated, ‘It’s not attainable that he’s quicker than me there!’ However he was.”

A much less snug clarification – that Ducati might not wish to hear – is that, though the GP25 at the moment makes use of the GP24 engine, chassis and aero, different winter updates will not be proving useful.

That’s a concept hinted at by Marc’s manufacturing facility team-mate Bagnaia, who has spoken of going “again to the GP24” from subsequent weekend in Austin to try to enhance his feeling with the rear tyre.

“It’s unusual contemplating the bike is much like final 12 months,” Bagnaia admitted.

With COTA up subsequent, a direct comparability between 2024 and 2025 race tempo ought to supply much more perception into how the steadiness of energy has modified among the many Ducati riders.