Francesco Bagnaia’s ‘body language’ after the Thai Grand Prix convinces Neil Hodgson of one thing

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Neil Hodgson is convinced of one thing after seeing how Francesco Bagnaia reacted to Marc Marquez winning the 2025 Thai Grand Prix on his debut with Ducati this Sunday.

For only the second time in the six-time MotoGP champion’s premier class career, Marquez achieved a hat-trick this weekend at Buriram. The 32-year-old scored pole position, claimed the Sprint Race victory and turned his P1 start into a race win in the opening round of 2025.

In part due to MotoGP only introducing the Sprint in 2023, Marquez only registered his first hat-trick with his first wins aboard a Ducati for Gresini at the Grand Prix of Aragon last term. Yet Marquez would not wait long to dominate an entire round for Ducati alongside Bagnaia.

Marc Marquez dealt Francesco Bagnaia a ‘knockout blow’ by winning the Thai Grand Prix

Ducati rejected Jorge Martin to promote Marquez from Gresini for the 2025 MotoGP season after deciding to move on from Enea Bastianini as Bagnaia’s partner. The Cervera native was still yet to win any races on a Desmosedici when Marquez signed a two-year Ducati contract.

The Bologna Bullets are loving their decision to pick the Spaniard now, though. Marquez was in a class of his own at the Thai Grand Prix to win from his brother, Alex Marquez, after even intentionally falling behind the Gresini pilot to ensure his tyre pressures were at a legal level.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number

Bagnaia came home in third place, 2.398 seconds from Marquez, as Ducati bikes locked up the top four places in the Thai GP with VR46 ace Franco Morbidelli in P4. Yet Hodgson thinks Marquez easily winning on debut for Ducati was a ‘knockout blow’ for Bagnaia in round one.

Hodgson told TNT Sports: “He’s just in another league. That’s a Marc Marquez performance. He ran around close to his brother to get his front tyre pressure up and I feel like we’re forgetting it’s so difficult to do that. You get all the heat off the bike, it’s exhausting.

“Also, you’ve got to deal with doing that calculation. [But] that was a win with one hand on his hip. The first race of the year, he absolutely pulverises opponents. You look at Pecco Bagnaia’s body language, he’s done, isn’t he? It’s like a knockout blow in the first round.

“I know it’s a 22-round championship, I know there’s 21 rounds to go, I know anything can happen, but what a performance. Literally, I saw Pecco over there, he’s punch-drunk. He’s been battered and that’s before we even mention anyone else. There are no other rivals.”

Pecco Bagnaia could never match Marc Marquez at Buriram and faces a fraught start

Bagnaia had to go through Q1 after an incorrectly waved flag in Friday’s practice session left him outside the top 10 quickest laps. But the Italian was off Marquez’s pace in every session that mattered at the Thai GP, with Bagnaia qualifying in and finishing both of the races in P3.

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

Even with Marquez having to intentionally slip behind his brother Alex to keep his front tyre pressure up, Bagnaia never looked likely to rival the Spaniard for the win, too. So, he leaves the Thai GP very much on the back foot before going to races that Marquez has dominated.

Sylvain Guintoli doubts Bagnaia can win a race until round four when MotoGP heads to the Lusail International Circuit for the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix. Marquez will be the favourite for glory in the next two races at the Argentina Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of the Americas.