Marc Marquez surprised by five-podium MotoGP rival he ‘expected’ to fade away in Thai Grand Prix Sprint

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Marc Marquez is already a MotoGP winner for Ducati after winning the Sprint Race at the Thai Grand Prix on his debut for the Borgo Panigale brand at Buriram on Saturday.

His life in red has had an almost perfect start so far with Marquez cruising to glory from pole position. The 32-year-old beat his brother Alex Marquez of Gresini for pole position by 0.146 seconds. Francesco Bagnaia, his Ducati teammate, was 0.173s slower around Buriram in P3.

The trio would, ultimately, hold those positions through until the chequered flag in the Sprint Race. Marquez won the Thai Grand Prix teaser by 1.185s over his 28-year-old sibling, plus by 3.423s to title-rival Bagnaia. Rookie star Ai Ogura impressed on debut for Trackhouse in P4.

Marc Marquez surprised by Alex Marquez’s pace in the Thai Grand Prix Sprint Race

While the new Ducati rider having replaced Enea Bastianini only won by 1.185s after 13 laps, TNT Sports pundit Sylvain Guintoli feels Marquez had ‘another gear’ to reach in the Thai GP Sprint Race. The Spaniard’s body language aboard his Ducati GP25 indicated he took it easy.

But one aspect of the Sprint Race at Buriram did surprise the older of the Marquez brothers, with Marc admitting he expected Alex to fall back more than the Gresini rider did at the end of the Thai GP teaser. Alex is one of three riders with the Ducati GP24 in the 2025 campaign.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Alex Marquez from net worth to career stats

“After watching the practice sessions, I didn’t want any surprises,” Marquez said, via quotes by DAZN. “The first Sprint Race of the year, no matter how good your pace is, there’s always that extra tension.”

He added: “When I saw that gap with Alex, I expected him to drop a bit more at the end. But he was able to continue with some fairly comfortable times.”

Marc Marquez thinks Ducati can improve their bike to be ‘more consistent’ at Buriram

Despite winning the Sprint Race this Saturday, Marquez still feels Ducati must make changes to their bike for the Thai Grand Prix this Sunday. He sees at least two or three aspects where the Borgo Panigale team can improve, while the Michelin tyres even took Marquez’s notice.

“I have been able to see that on such a hot track the tyres behave differently,” he continued. “We have to make two or three adjustments tomorrow to try to be a little more consistent.”

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend

It is rather ominous for the rest of the 2025 MotoGP grid that Marquez believes Ducati have areas to improve after winning the Sprint Race at the Thai GP without pushing their GP25 to its full limits. Alex Marquez will hope Gresini can also refine his package on the Ducati GP24.

Alex will no doubt hope to convert his P2 start into another podium in the actual Thai GP on Sunday, with Marquez boasting five premier class podiums to his name so far. He is also still yet to score a premier class Grand Prix victory but may be in a strong position this weekend.

Gresini pair Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer plus VR46 rider Franco Morbidelli are racing last year’s Ducati package, with VR46’s other pilot Fabio Di Giannantonio the sole pilot other than the works pair of Marc Marquez and Bagnaia to receive the GP25 package for this year.

While Ducati have kept their 2024 engine for their 2025 bike, the GP25 does differ from the GP24 in other aspects concerning the chassis such as their swingarm. Bagnaia even dubbed the Bologna Bullets’ package as a GP24.9 due to their new bike’s similarities and differences.