Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia started the 2025 MotoGP season on a damp note after finishing third in his first race alongside new teammate Marc Marquez.
The Ducati bikes were the class of the field all weekend, and took the top three spots on the podium in Buriram.
Marc Marquez was able to coast to victory after sitting behind brother Alex for the majority of the race in a bid to save his tyres.
Francesco Bagnaia’s third place was indicative of his struggles so far this year. He just couldn’t find the pace when it was required of him.
The next few tracks aren’t in the Italian’s favour either. Bagnaia may only beat Marquez in Qatar if form of old is anything to go by.
Keith Huewen thinks Bagnaia is cooked against Marquez but there are plenty more races ahead of them before the title is decided.
Francesco Bagnaia was ‘missing’ another level against Marc Marquez at the Thai GP
There are two weeks before MotoGP returns to Argentina after a one-year absence. It’s a track which Marquez has excelled at in the past with three victories.
It makes Bagnaia’s task even more difficult, and means that he may have to settle for second place at best. He won’t want to be behind his teammate or a Gresini bike for long.
READ MORE: Mat Oxley is not impressed with Franco Morbidelli’s actions with Francesco Bagnaia, ‘so hopeless’
Speaking after the Grand Prix of Thailand, the Italian rider shared what he was missing in the fight with the Marquez brothers.
“What was I missing? Going harder. I tried, when Alex was in front, he was going slower than Marc and I managed to get back under,” he told GPOne.
“However, every time I was within half a second, I had to give up and let them go. It happens like that, either you have so much more, like Marc today who was able to stick to Alex, or in the slipstream you struggle.”
Francesco Bagnaia fumes at MotoGP’s costly mistake at the Thai Grand Prix
Bagnaia’s weekend started on the wrong foot in Buriram after some chaos during Friday’s practice session.
The 28-year-old was denied an automatic spot in Q2 on Saturday after he was incorrectly shown the yellow flags and had his laptime deleted.
He would have finished ninth instead of 13th, handing him more work to do in qualifying, which he managed to deal with well.
Bagnaia fumed at MotoGP for the error after he was then blocked by Franco Morbidelli later in the same practice session and had his last shot at the top 10 scuppered.
He’ll need to avoid a repeat of these messy incidents if he is to make a real push for a third title in 2025 against one of the best riders of all time.
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