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No one was surprised to see at the end of the three days of testing in Sepang four Ducatis in the top five places. Such had been the superiority in the previous season (19 GPs won out of 20), that it would have been naïve, to say the least, to think that in a couple of months the battleship could sink under enemy blows. It must be admitted that last year, in Malaysia, it went even better: the first 4 positions were all Desmosedicis, with 6 red bikes in the first 8 places. However, it must be pointed out that Borgo Panigale in 2024 had 8 bikes and no rookies, while now it has six, there is rookie Aldeguer and it lost Di Giannantonio at the end of the first day to injury. Even that being the case, the dominance was clear, with only Quartararo breaking the monotony thanks to the 3rd quickest time.
The one lap times, compared to a year ago, also improved: Bagnaia, on the GP25, set the best time of 1'56"550, so he was 0"182 faster than he was at the beginning of 2024 on the GP24. He was not the fastest, however, because Alex Marquez beat him by 7 thousandths, thus bringing the improvement over last year's best time to 0"191.
The issue, in the end, is all here:in 2024, the new Desmosedici dominated. Bagnaia, Martin and Bastianini monopolized the top 3 places (Morbidelli with the latest GP24 was missing because he was injured). Last week, however, there was a GP24 in front of everyone else, and also Morbidelli with the 'old' bike took the satisfaction of being ahead of Marc. The point seems to be that they were really too skilled at Borgo Panigale. The Desmosedici 2024 was born well and improved during the season, so to do things better is not easy. The GP25 has a very difficult task, to beat the bike that preceded it, the GP24. In Sepang it failed to do so.
Not even in the Sprint simulation, although it did come close. Both Alex Marquez, Marc Marquez, and Bagnaia put themselves to the test in the short race distance, and it was once again the Team Gresini rider who came out on top. It was a head-to-head battle between brothers: Marc went several times down to 1'57" (7 out of 10 laps), but the stopwatch proved Alex right. His average lap time was 1'57"901, compared to his brother's 1'57"930. And Bagnaia? Only two laps in 1'57" and an average time about 3 tenths higher than that of the Spanish brothers. There's a reason for that: the official team had their riders out in different configurations, and clearly the Italian's didn't work as hoped (the rider from Piedmont complained of a vibration).
Up to here these are the numbers, which, however, need to be interpreted. Alex, in fact, on the 'old' bike had to concentrate only on himself, on adapting to the GP24, without worrying about anything else. Marc and Pecco, on the other hand, did development work, which takes time and - in a playful way - negatively affects pure performance. That said, the two factory riders still have some doubts. And it is about the engine.
"It was born well, the best I've ever tried in a winter test, the delivery is very smooth," Bagnaia praised it before moving on to the sore points. "Something is missing in braking, in terms of electronic setup and engine braking. We have made some progress, but for now we gain less on the exit than we lose on corner entry. Also, the Sepang track was so covered with rubber that it was difficult to understand the improvements." Also Sepang is known as being a very wide track, different from the more technical and narrow European tracks. "You have to imagine how the bike will perform in those as well," Marc explained.
The GP24 engine after a year of development had reached a very high level, the question is whether the new one can surpass it, one has to imagine how much margin it has. "It depends on how much you want to risk," was the conclusion. "We've been focusing a lot on the engine because we won't be able to change it for two years," Marquez underlined, recalling the development freeze for 2026 as well. Summing up, the decision has been postponed to Buriram, where they hope to clarify their ideas with a track with little grip.
The choice is even more complicated because the 2024 engine was (and still is) the benchmark in MotoGP so, on balance, playing it safe would be the easier decision. "Dall'Igna only cares about winning, not which evolution we choose," Bagnaia said. So, discarding (all or in part) the work done in the winter on paper would not be a problem. Not to mention that it has happened before.
It was 2022 and the new engine was not born well. At the end of the winter tests, Pecco asked to take a step back and the official team (with the Piedmont rider there was Miller) ran with a 'hybrid' power unit: it was the 2022 engine with some parts from 2021. The other riders with official bikes (Martin and Zarco in the Pramac team and Marini in VR46) had the 'full' 2022 version instead. Bagnaia won the title, Jack finished 5th in the championship, while Johann and Jorge were 8th and 9th and Marini 12th (none of them won a single race). A sign that sometimes being conservative can pay off. The tests in Thailand scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday will tell us if history is destined to repeat itself.
