Marc Marquez disadvantage? Five key talking points at Qatar MotoGP

The 2025 MotoGP season continues this weekend with the fourth spherical of the championship, the Qatar Grand Prix.

For simply the second time since 2007, the grand prix paddock involves Qatar not for the opening spherical of a season. Normally the primary cease on the schedule and the scene of the ultimate check, this 12 months’s Qatar GP will happen in baking temperatures in early April.

A dramatic Americas Grand Prix has reset the desk coming to the Lusail Worldwide Circuit, with Marc Marquez’s DNF leaving his youthful trouble Alex Marquez to take a one-point lead within the championship.

Pecco Bagnaia received his first win of the season final outing and is barely 12 factors off the lead as he involves a circuit Ducati administration have been eyeing because the place the place the double world champion actually will get his marketing campaign going.

With first apply simply across the nook, listed below are 5 key storylines to be careful for on the 2025 Qatar GP.

The return of the world champion

Arguably the most important storyline surrounding the 2025 Qatar GP is the return of reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin, after an prolonged interval on the sidelines with harm.

Martin’s debut with Aprilia actually couldn’t have gone any worse. As of FP1 on Friday, he could have accomplished simply 13 laps on the RS-GP in 2025 having crashed early on the opening day of pre-season testing in Malaysia in the beginning of February.

Struggling a number of fractures then, he hasn’t been seen on a motorbike since, having injured himself once more in a coaching accident previous to the Thai GP.

The bike Martin involves is alleged to be fairly totally different to what he initially examined final November in Barcelona. Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura presently sits sixth within the standings with a greatest end of fifth within the first three rounds, whereas Martin’s manufacturing unit team-mate Marco Bezzecchi has cracked the highest six twice.

So, Martin involves a undertaking transferring in the precise route. However expectations shall be non-existent for his Aprilia race debut this weekend. Martin has even stated he’s unsure if he’s bodily able to ending the grand prix in Qatar.

Coming into the fourth spherical of twenty-two 87 factors off the championship lead, his already underdog hopes look fairly distant at this stage and can possible solely look worse when the paddock leaves Qatar on Sunday night.

If Martin can get by way of the entire weekend incident-free, making small steps alongside the way in which and seeing the chequered flag on Sunday, that shall be counted as a serious victory in his adaptation to the Aprilia.

Can Alex Marquez strengthen his championship lead?

For the primary time in his MotoGP profession, Alex Marquez begins a brand new spherical main the world championship. Whereas solely by a degree, the Gresini rider’s ultra-consistency on the GP24 within the first three rounds has seen him capitalise on Marc Marquez’s crash out of the lead of the Americas GP two weeks in the past.

Alex Marquez maintained his 100% second-place file in 2025 at COTA, which was vital given his earlier greatest Americas GP outcome was a twelfth in 2021. Now coming to a observe in Lusail the place he has higher type and the Ducati works extremely nicely, there’s little to doubt that Alex Marquez’s robust begin to the 12 months received’t proceed.

In America he was outclassed by Pecco Bagnaia and relegated to third-best Ducati within the grand prix by way of pure tempo. Whether or not that development continues shall be one of many key arcs from the Qatar GP.

However, with Qatar not being considered one of Marc Marquez’s strongest venues and Bagnaia’s step ahead nonetheless shrouded with query marks, Alex Marquez is in the most effective place to maybe spring a full-on assault for the victory.

Will Pecco Bagnaia’s 2025 season rework in Qatar?

Just about because the pre-season, Ducati administration have had the Qatar Grand Prix circled of their calendars because the date when Pecco Bagnaia’s 2025 marketing campaign actually will get going.

Previous to the Americas GP, nothing was trying significantly vibrant for Bagnaia. Outshone by his team-mate Marc Marquez, nowhere close to even difficult Alex Marquez to be better of the remaining, Bagnaia’s championship hopes had taken a reasonably large hit.

Making a step ahead together with his feeling underneath braking on the GP25 at COTA, Bagnaia was in a position to bounce again into podium type. In a position to get the higher of Alex Marquez on tempo, he was nonetheless set to complete nicely behind team-mate Marc Marquez earlier than the latter’s crash on lap 9 of 19.

Bagnaia didn’t hesitate to pounce on the chance and closed a 36-point championship deficit after the dash all the way down to 12 together with his first win of the season.

It’s true that Bagnaia does have a superb file in Qatar, however not standout sufficient to warrant the hype Ducati has constructed up round it. He has one win to his credit score, which got here final 12 months, and podiums in 2023 and 2021.

Even with Marc Marquez’s file of 1 win and 4 podiums at Qatar, it’s onerous to look previous him because the favorite coming into the fourth spherical regardless of his Americas GP crash. That tumble got here from his personal error, as he ran an excessive amount of onto a moist kerb, than being pressured by Bagnaia.

Actually, Bagnaia has a possibility to get nearer this weekend, however the step he nonetheless must make is important.

May a Qatar return enhance one other Ducati rider after COTA podium return?

Following on from the earlier level concerning Bagnaia, it’s price stating that the rider who beat him on the 2023 Qatar GP was a sure Fabio Di Giannantonio. The Italian additionally occurs to be on the identical spec of GP25 that Bagnaia and Marc Marquez experience.

For somebody who missed the whole thing of the pre-season attributable to harm from a foolish crash on his means again to pitlane on the finish of day one in Sepang, Di Giannantonio has not disgraced himself within the slightest.

Nonetheless feeling the results from his collarbone harm at COTA, he was using at the least to a season-best fourth on his VR46 Ducati earlier than being boosted to 3rd by Marc Marquez’s crash. Maybe extra encouraging for Di Giannantonio was the actual fact he was nicely inside that main group at simply 3.5s off the win and round seven seconds away from the remainder of the sphere.

His fairly speedy turnaround on the GP25 might trigger a headache for the main three Ducatis of Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez and Bagnaia in Qatar. Scene of a maiden win on the Gresini-run GP22 that principally saved his MotoGP profession, the Qatar GP holds particular reminiscences for Di Giannantonio.

He was even an honest seventh on the underwhelming GP23 package deal in Qatar final 12 months. Armed with a motorbike he now is aware of he able to at the least reaching the rostrum with, Di Giannantonio might be on for some large issues at Lusail.

A guidelines clarification after COTA chaos

The desert setting of Qatar ought to hopefully imply a repeat of the weather-induced COTA begin chaos two weeks in the past is prevented.

It would stay a serious speaking level, nonetheless, because the championship is greater than prone to rapidly assessment the laws within the occasion of a repeat in future. Race director Mike Webb, who took the choice to desert the unique begin at COTA on security grounds – and due to this fact sparing fairly just a few riders, together with race winner Pecco Bagnaia, a penalty – instructed Motorsport.com this week that the principles shall be tightened up and simplified.

That will nicely come as early as Thursday when race route points its notes for the approaching weekend, although given {that a} related begin isn’t prone to be an issue at Lusail, there is no such thing as a must rush the method.

The best way Marc Marquez performed the rulebook and knew a begin delay could be triggered if sufficient riders adopted him off the grid at COTA, nonetheless, could have caught the eye of his rivals. Others will now absolutely be doing their homework forward of the Qatar GP to see if they’ll work the rulebook of their favour ought to the chance come up.