Marco Bezzecchi
Alex Marquez holds the MotoGP championship lead by the slenderest of margins over Marc Marquez three races into the 2025 season.
A one-point lead may mean virtually nothing at this stage, but the idea of the younger Marquez holding the title lead was virtually unthought of in pre-season.
Gresini are putting their satellite Ducati bike to good use and even Fermin Aldeguer is beginning to show promise on it too.
The only problem is that they now have to overcome the older Marquez, whose biggest enemy may end up being himself if he continues to make catastrophic errors as he did at the Grand Prix of the Americas.
Aldeguer ‘didn’t expect’ Marquez’s Gresini consistency but is happy to see his teammate enjoying such a rich vein of form. He could benefit from his work too.
Neil Hodgson ‘can’t believe’ Marquez’s crash and how it has opened the door for his brother to be ahead of him in the riders’ standings. It was an unforced error.
READ MORE: Alex Marquez has ‘ordered’ Ducati to give him one thing only Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia have
Alex Marquez is ‘faster’ than Marc Marquez in right-hand corners on a MotoGP bike
Marquez believes Alex has the ‘least respect’ for him of anyone on the current grid after seeing him suffer, and knowing how to push his boundaries.
His inner knowledge of his brother is going to be handy down the line when the intensity and pressure of a championship fight ramps up.
Alex already knows that he is better than Marc in one big area – it should be a significant advantage as the season develops.
“Marc is very complete and weak points, he had very few and he has never hidden,” he said. “The right-hand corners are the ones that can be a little bit difficult for him, right?
“Especially fast ones and on the slow ones, the long one is quite long. So that’s where I am faster and the other way around on the left-hand corners. It makes more of a difference.”
READ MORE: Ramon Forcada admits 89-race star has been a ‘real surprise’ in 2025, ‘I never thought…’
How close has Alex Marquez been to Marc Marquez on true pace during the 2025 MotoGP season?
Taking a look at the qualifying performance of the Marquez brothers, there appears to be a clear gap between them over one lap.
Marc has beaten Alex by 0.146, 0.246 and 0.360 seconds, progressively widening the gap at every round in 2025.
With an average gap of 0.251 seconds, it shows that Ducati definitely have something a little extra in their armoury over Gresini.
That gap has been reduced over a race distance, but that may be down to Marc being willing to sit behind and conserve his tyres at the opening two rounds.
The margin becomes irrelevant when mistakes creep in. For the first time in 2025, heading into Qatar, Marc has a little pressure on his shoulders.
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