Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez more than justified Ducati’s decision to sign him over Jorge Martin for the 2025 MotoGP season by winning the riders’ title in mercilessly dominant fashion.
Ducati had a decision to make when they elected to release Enea Bastianini at the end of his contract. Martin was showing he was ready for a factory gig with his results for Pramac. But Marquez was turning heads with his instant results on a Ducati upon joining Gresini in 2024.
In the end, Ducati signed Marquez instead of Martin, despite the latter then going on to win the 2024 riders’ title at the expense of factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia before joining Aprilia. But few people, if any, in Borgo Panigale will think they were wrong to sign Marquez.
Marquez won the 2025 riders’ title with five rounds to spare, having left the Japanese Grand Prix in round 17 out of 22 with a 201-point lead over Gresini’s Alex Marquez in second place. While Marquez missed the final four rounds through injury, he still finished 78 points ahead.
Marc Marquez stunned Davide Tardozzi by avoiding a crash at Sepang ‘99% of riders’ would not
Team manager Davide Tardozzi feels Marquez often did things that left Ducati “speechless” en route to taking 11 Grand Prix and 14 Sprint wins, plus the 2025 title. The 32-year-old also made Tardozzi realise that he is a “phenomenon” during the first pre-season test at Sepang.
READ MORE: Five key moments defined Marc Marquez’s first MotoGP title with Ducati
Where does Marc Marquez’s 2025 rank among the best seasons by a rider in MotoGP history?
Marquez made his first outing of 2025 on the Ducati GP25 at Sepang in February and saved a crash that Tardozzi does not believe many other riders could avoid. Although Marquez did end up on the deck during day two, after falling on the entry to Turn 9 with 15 minutes left.
Tardozzi told DAZN’s ‘Volver’ documentary: “He often did things that left us speechless, and we said ‘Wow’. I think the first time I noticed it was at Sepang. He managed not to crash in a situation where 99% of riders would have crashed. I said. ‘He’s a phenomenon!’.”
Marc Marquez crashed his least often for four years, with 14 during the 2025 season
Marquez crashed a total of 14 times during the 2025 MotoGP season, which marks his least over the past four years. The Spaniard crashed 24 times after joining Gresini during 2024, 29 times in what was his final year with Honda in 2023 and 18 times during the 2022 campaign.
You’re in charge of MotoGP, what is the one track that you’d immediately add to the calendar?
LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco ended 2025 with the most crashes, having had a total of 28 falls across the record 22-round season. The Frenchman’s tally marked a vast increase on his 15 in 2024. Pramac’s Jack Miller crashed the most often among the Yamaha riders, with his 25.
VR46’s Franco Morbidelli and Gresini’s Alex Marquez had the most crashes among Ducati’s rider ranks with 23 each. But while Marc Marquez crashed just 14 times in comparison, he also made some big blunders that tainted the start of the term for the eventual champion.
Marc Marquez crashed from the lead of the Americas GP in round three, which handed the victory to Ducati teammate Bagnaia. Also, Alex Marquez won the Spanish GP in round five, having gained confidence after seeing his elder sibling crash out of third place on Lap 3/25.
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