Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez sealed his seventh MotoGP championship at Motegi this weekend as his Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia claimed the victory.
Interestingly, Motegi marked only the second one-two finish of the 2025 season for the Borgo Panigale outfit. It highlights just how much Bagnaia has struggled with the GP25 this season.
The Italian has found no feeling with the new Desmosedici, while Marquez has dominated the championship. Luigi Dall’Igna said Ducati were losing patience with Bagnaia over his woes; the Japanese Grand Prix was the revival he desperately needed.
Bagnaia said Ducati did something ‘never’ seen before during testing at Misano. The Italian had not finished in the top five since the end of the summer break before the race at Motegi.
The Borgo Panigale outfit went to extreme lengths to help the 28-year-old, as Bagnaia was the ‘only rider’ with a shorter fork in Japan. It seemed to suit him as he secured pole position and won the Sprint and main race, while his teammate appeared to struggle.
Neil Hodgson felt Marc Marquez was like Francesco Bagnaia with his Japanese Grand Prix mistakes
Marquez qualified third at Motegi behind Honda rider Joan Mir. It took him until the closing stages of the Sprint to get past his fellow compatriot and finish second.
On Sunday, he fell back off the start and behind Pedro Acosta. He eventually got through the KTM rider, but ran wide several times and missed the apex of many corners.
He was unable to catch Bagnaia in front, despite the Italian having smoke blowing from his GP25. Speaking via TNT Sports 2, Neil Hodgson felt Marquez resembled his teammate with how uncomfortable he looked on the bike.
“He has not looked comfortable at all this weekend. Actually, the only time he looked comfortable was the second half of the Sprint race,” he said.
“He looked more natural, more normal. I know it sounds funny, but he’s looked more like Bagnaia this weekend.
“Missing loads of corners, in and out of the pits a lot. He has looked quite animated in the garage as well. He’s normally quite a calm individual in the garage. It’s just not worked, the bike’s not worked for him.”
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Ducati express delight for Francesco Bagnaia’s return to form at Motegi
Fans were delighted for Bagnaia as he claimed victory in the Sprint. He replicated it on Sunday for his first Grand Prix win since Austin back in March.
Davide Tardozzi celebrated harder than ever as Bagnaia crossed the line first on Saturday. He and the team have been working tirelessly to find solutions to the 28-year-old’s problems in 2025.
The issue for the Italian is that his revival may have come too late, as he sits 66 points behind Alex Marquez in the battle for second. Marquez is not worried about Bagnaia and his upturn in form at Motegi, as he is determined to keep the Ducati rider behind him.
Marc Marquez said ‘no one will remember the winner’ at Motegi if he were to secure the title. Bagnaia’s win should not go unrecognised, but his teammate’s championship win will certainly overshadow it.
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