Marco Bezzecchi
Many will expect normality to resume in MotoGP in 2025 after last year. Ducati are the clear favourites for the championship.
The Bologna-based outfit won 16 out of 20 races last season as they won the teams’ championship by 203 points over Pramac. However, it was the satellite team that won the riders’ title with Jorge Martin.
Losing to the Spaniard by 10 points, Francesco Bagnaia will be searching for his third MotoGP title in 2025. The Italian won 11 races in 2024 but costly errors with poor starts and retirements saw him miss out to Martin.
Bagnaia backs himself to win the title this year but he will face fierce competition from the other side of Ducati garage. Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez is on a factory bike for the first time since leaving Honda.
The Spaniard blitzed the field in pre-season, topping the times on both days in Buriram. Marquez may already be playing ‘mind games’ with Bagnaia as he searches for his seventh title.
But MotoGP can throw up some surprises in the field with the likes of Aprilia, KTM and the improved Yamaha looking to challenge. Carlo Pernat has one rider in mind who will be the ‘real surprise’ of 2025.
Carlo Pernat backs Marco Bezzecchi to be the ‘real surprise’ of 2025 MotoGP season
Pedro Acosta will be looking to build upon a sensational rookie season last year in 2025. Pol Espargaro says Acosta needs ‘patience’ if he wants to challenge Bagnaia and Marquez.
Franco Morbidelli and Marc Marquez’s brother Alex Marquez were standout riders in pre-season. Both impressed on the GP24 in Sepang and could cause a stir with the year-old spec still proving to be competitive.
Fabio Di Giannantonio will ride the factory GP25 – or ‘GP24.9’ after Ducati opted for the 2024 engine. The VR46 rider has a great opportunity to fight the factory team.
Marco Bezzecchi surpassed Aprilia’s expectations in Buriram as he stepped up on the RS-GP25. The nin-podium rider was the Noale-based team’s only source for data after Jorge Martin suffered injuries in Sepang.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marco Bezzecchi from net worth to race number
Bezzecchi set Aprilia’s fastest-ever time in Buriram on day two, finishing third behind the Marquez brothers. The 26-year-old has shown the bike can be competitive, and Pernat is backing the Italian to challenge this year.
Speaking with Mowmag.com, Enea Bastianini’s former manager saw Bezzecchi has the eyes of a rider who has made an ‘extra click.’
Asked who will surprise people in 2025, Pernat replied: “If I tell you Di Giannantonio you answer that I like to win easily, since he will have a Ducati equal to that of Marquez and Pecco and in any case he also had the most unlucky start possible.
“Alex Marquez is another one who could really do well. But my euro as a “real surprise” I put it on Marco Bezzecchi, in Sepang and especially in Buriram he had those eyes that riders have when they manage to make an extra click.
Massimo Rivola’s warning to Jorge Martin about Marco Bezzecchi
Martin’s title defence with Aprilia is off to a nightmare start. The Spaniard has missed all of pre-season testing after fracturing his right hand and left foot from a violent highside in Sepang.
Martin has a ‘get out of jail free card’ for 2025 as his injury will likely affect his entire season. He will not be expected to win the first race in Thailand, let alone the championship.
Not many would have thought his teammate would get close to Martin at Aprilia. But Massimo Rivola has warned Martin that Bezzecchi will be ‘tough’ to beat after his strong display in pre-season.
Bezzecchi ‘didn’t feel like’ contacting Martin so soon after his crash. The Spaniard is making positive steps with his recovery, but he will now face a huge challenge at Aprilia when he gets back to racing.
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