Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez quickly dashed any hope that there would be a title fight during the 2025 MotoGP season.
His brother Alex led the standings by one point after winning round five in Spain, but it never felt as if he would sustain his challenge. While Marquez blew likely victories by falling in Austin and Jerez, he had a clear edge on pure performance.
As the season progressed, this advantage told. Teammate Francesco Bagnaia lost his way and Marquez opened up an enormous lead over his brother.
Marc Marquez won 69.44% of races he finished in 2025. What should MotoGP do to make racing more unpredictable?
By the time Marquez sealed the title at the Japanese GP – with five rounds to spare – his lead over Alex was almost 200 points. Attention had long shifted towards the battle for second and third.
Carmelo Ezpeleta hints that MotoGP needs a ‘leader’ like Marc Marquez
Marquez won 11 of the 18 Grands Prix he started in 2025, as well as 14 Sprints. That’s an overall victory rate of almost 70%.
Even though there was no real title battle, Dorna say that MotoGP hit new records for race attendance, viewership and fan engagement. Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said this wasn’t solely down to Marquez – the sport’s biggest star – returning to the top.
“The experience I’ve gained over all these years has taught me that the key lies in many things,” he said. “There isn’t just one thing that changes everything.
“Obviously, Marquez’s performance has given us a lot of strength again, but other things are important too.”
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It could be argued that Marquez’s dominance is holding MotoGP back. If the races are seen to be predictable, it could dissuade prospective fans from tuning in.
But Ezpeleta thinks it’s ‘positive’ that there’s a clear leader like Marquez, who has emulated Valentino Rossi’s dominance at the start of the MotoGP era.
“I don’t know, because this year has gone very well and there hasn’t been a battle. That’s not entirely accurate.
“Before, many people said there wasn’t a leader when we had several riders winning. I think things are working out, but certainly having a leader like Marquez, like we had Valentino before, is positive for the World Championship.
Jorge Lorenzo’s father has summed up the problem with Marc Marquez
Marquez’s former manager says the engineers are the ‘most important’ figures in modern MotoGP. As Jorge Lorenzo said, the combination of the strongest rider (statistically at least) and the strongest bike turned the championship into simple ‘mathematics’.
Fabio Quartararo and Pedro Acosta are seen as the closest to Marquez in terms of talent, but they may lack the machinery to show it.
Lorenzo’s father was ‘bored’ watching Marquez, but equally, he ‘missed him’ when he was absent at the end of the season through injury. Perhaps that sums up MotoGP’s problem right now.
New owners Liberty Media are reliant on Marquez’s star power if they want to grow, yet his superiority may hold them back.
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