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In the light of the splendid season he had in 2024 with the Gresini team, everyone expected to see a strong Marc Marquez in his second year riding a Ducati, his first as an official rider for the Borgo Panigale manufacturer. However, it was difficult to imagine the overwhelming superiority shown by the rider from Cervera in this start of the championship, capable of earning him four victories, in Sprints and Grands Prix, in as many races held.
A clear difference compared to the results so far obtained by his teammate Francesco Bagnaia who, in this his fifth year with the squad, has not yet managed to secure a better placing than the third step of the podium that he obtained until the Argentine GP, which he concluded in fourth position.
Among those who had no doubts about the eight-time world champion's potential, however, was his crew chief, Frankie Carchedi. Who, having seen him at work in 2024, was certain that Marc could make his debut in red a triumphant one.
"Frankie has been telling me for six months," admitted the former rider and TNT Sports analyst Neil Hodgson after the South American race, "Obviously he was Marc's crew chief last year, so he saw what a disadvantage the 2023 Ducati was to the 2024. In his opinion - and he's got the data - it was between 0.4 and 0.6 seconds a lap. He said, 'If you put Marc on the same bike as Pecco, he won't be able to lay a glove on him.' Why's that? Because Marc's a better rider," as Crash reported.
If, according to the 2023 Superbike World Champion, Marc's potential in this start of the championship is comparable to what he demonstrated in 2014, the season in which he captured his second MotoGP title, winning the first 10 rounds of the year and a total of 13 GPs out of the 18 on the calendar.
"In 2014, the Honda was the best bike and Marc was the best rider on the best bike," Hodgson said, explaining why this Marquez is like the one from 11 years ago. "After that, the Honda didn't improve - everybody else improved - so then all those victories, all those World Championships, all that success, that was Marc being the better rider, not on the best bike. Then, obviously, after 2019, the injuries, and then we've ended up here in 2025, where yet again the best rider is on the best bike."
The Briton's colleague Michael Laverty, a former rider and analyst for TNT Sports, is also convinced that the 32-year-old is at his best.
"It's prime Marc Marquez," he said, "He's reinvented himself by having to get the arm broken, go through the surgeries, rehabilitating. He re-evaluated his career, going back to the private team, (now) he's got the factory bike so it's nice to see that it's come full circle again and he's able to show his skills, which have never been in question."
