Four rounds into the MotoGP World Championship and it’s seven wins from eight for Ducati’s Marc Marquez, as his dominance continues to send shudders through the rest of the field.
Marquez shines under the lights
The Losail circuit in Qatar was the venue last weekend for the fourth round of the series and Marquez was looking to bounce back from the error in America when he crashed out whilst comfortably leading the feature race.
It was his only mistake thus far this season but he openly spoke about difficulties he’d face under the floodlights at Qatar, the circuit not suiting his style.
It was expected to be the circuit where there’d be a more level playing field with Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, particularly, expected to pose a strong challenge. As it turned out though, Marquez’ dominance was rammed home even further as he took pole position and won both the Sprint and Feature races.
On each occasion, he looked to have the situation perfectly under control, particularly with tyre management, and no-one really threatened him at Losail. The only trouble he experienced was when brother Alex hit him at the first corner, dislodging some of the aero fins on the seat unit.
Taking the lead in the championship from Alex, Marc’s advantage is now 17 points, and he must be cursing himself for the unforced error in America. Nevertheless, four pole positions from four, eight fastest laps from eight and seven wins from eight means it’s not been a bad way to start life as a factory Ducat rider. And the signs are getting more and more ominous for opposition.
Bagnaia pays for qualifying crash
At the conclusion of round three, everyone in the Ducati garage was vocal about how Bagnaia would be a force to be reckoned with Qatar, the circuit much more to his liking than the previous three where Marquez was always likely to have the upper hand.
The fact that Bagnaia’s hopes never came to fruition will have been of major concern to the double World Champion.
There was one lap in the Feature race where he challenged for the lead but once again Marquez was giving his opponents false hope and Bagnaia was left to rue a major error in qualifying where he crashed out, leaving him a lowly 11th on the grid.
He could only manage eighth in the Sprint race and made no real progression, stuck in the pack and only moving forward when others made mistakes.
He was more competitive on Sunday, finishing third before being promoted to second after KTM’s Maverick Vinales was relegated to 14th (see below) but whilst he maintains he needs to be better on Saturday’s, the fact remains he needs to be better on all three days of a Grand Prix weekend.
At present, Marquez has him exactly where he wants him and although we’re only four rounds into a 22-round series, the Spaniard has been the faster rider at every circuit, which must be preying on Bagnaia’s mind.
Revitalised Vinales steals the show
Marquez may have swept all before him, but the rider of the weekend was undoubtedly Vinales. The Spaniard has struggled on the KTM, as have all four riders riding for the Austrian manufacturer, but there were positive signs in America, and he was a revelation in Qatar. He ultimately came away with just two points to his name, but he impressed everyone.
Strong in qualifying, Vinales looked comfortable in the top five in the Sprint race before dropping down the order to tenth, his decision to go with the soft rear tyre working against him.
What it did show though was that he was clearly getting to grips with the KTM, and his pace was as good as anyone’s, also being considerably quicker than the three other KTM riders.
Chatter and vibration have been the main cause given for the lacklustre performance of all four KTM riders so far in 2025, but Vinales clearly found a way to overcome them and ran in the top three throughout, his pace at mid-race distance seeing him relegate Marquez to second.
He eventually finished second only to be hit with a 16s penalty due to his tyre pressures being set too low, the team expecting him to be running in the pack, not out front.
Everyone watching felt for him but his presence at the front made the race the spectacle it was, something other than a Ducat at the front. Of course, history shows Vinales can be brilliant one weekend but nowhere the next so it will be interesting to see how he performs at his home round of Jerez next time out.
First mistake for Alex Marquez
Alex Marquez came into the Qatar round in the championship lead, the first time he’s ever been in such a position in the premier class. His superb run of form continued with second in the Sprint race making it seven consecutive runner-up positions.
However, the feature race was where he made his first mistakes, firstly hitting the rear of brother Marc at the first corner (although Marc later admitted that was due to him closing the throttle slightly) and then punting fellow Ducati rider Fabio di Giannantonio off the track.
Outside of the top three at the time, it was both a lunge and a clear error by Marquez as he too went off track and a long lap penalty was duly issued, dropping him ack to 12th.
To his credit, and such was his pace, he fought his way back up to sixth at the chequered flag, his first non-podium finish of the season. Nevertheless, if he’d have been offered second place in the table after the first four rounds, he most certainly would have taken it. He’ll be looking to bounce back in Spain in two weeks’ time.
Morbidelli’s fine form continues
The first corner collision between the Marquez brothers was capitalised on by VR46’s Franco Morbidelli and he duly led the first ten laps. Yes, he dropped back in the second half of the race with his tyres cooked, but third was the outcome after Vinales’ penalty and that made it two podiums from the weekend, having achieved the same position in the Sprint race.
That made it three podiums so far in 2025 and he’s sitting pretty in fourth overall after four rounds having only finished outside the top five once. Particularly strong on Sunday’s, Morbidelli’s clearly loving life in the VR46 team and on the Ducati and he’s rediscovered the form the form that took him to second in the championship in 2020. Can he win a race? Don’t bet against it.
Zarco and Quartararo perform heroics
Honda and Yamaha continue to face serious challenges in their bid to be truly competitive at the head of the field but that’s not stopping Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo achieving results way better than the machines are currently capable of.
The two Frenchman, Zarco on the LCR Honda and Quartararo on the Monster Energy Yamaha, are riding on the limit on every lap just to finish in the top six and crashes are inevitable. But their talent is really shing through at present, Zarco finishing fourth in the feature race and Quartararo taking fifth and seventh after qualifying in a stunning third.
Watching them work so hard and perform miracles is a joy to watch but let’s hope the bikes become more competitive to allow them to challenge for the podium without taking so many risks.
Rookie Aldeguer impresses
At the beginning of the season series debutante and reigning Moto 2 World Champion Ai Ogura was grabbing all the headlines, and rightly so, after some superb rides on the Trackhouse Aprilia. The Japanese rider continues to impress but it’s fellow rookie Fermin Aldeguer on the second Gresini Racing that’s now in the ascendancy.
The young Spaniard’s pace in America was good enough for a podium in the feature race before he crashed out, preferring to push for a podium rather than settle for fourth. It was no one-off though and he had superb pace all weekend in Qatar with fourth and fifth taken in the two races.
What’s particularly impressive is his speed in the second half of the race, managing the tyres like a veteran and matching that of the leaders and picking up places as others drop back. The season’s long but the 20-year old is heading in the right direction and, at his recent rate, a podium isn’t too far away.
Tough return for Martin
Qatar marked the return of reigning World Champion Jorge Martin, the Spaniard finally getting to run the number one plate on Aprilia. It was clear he was far from fit, the damaged scaphoid bone the main issue, and stringing more than two laps together in practice was a challenge.
Like all good champions, he dug deep on race day and ran on the edge of the top ten in the early stages of the Sprint race, even overtaking Bagnaia. However, he soon faded, understandably, with 16th the result. It was a finish though and he was back for more on the feature race day only for his season to unravel further.
Possibly due to fatigue, Martin came to grief on the 14th of 22 laps, when running 17th, and was hit by di Giannatonio who was unable to avoid him. More injuries, including a punctured lung and six fractured ribs, was the outcome and his participation at the next round must seriously be in question.
The incident also brought into question the decision of the organisers not to stop the race despite Martin laying stricken on the edge of the track with both him and the attending marshals and medics right in the firing line of the oncoming traffic. It didn’t look good on TV and wasn’t a good look for the sport. The safety of everyone must always come first.
Having started watching motorcycle races all over the world form childhood, Phil Wain has been a freelance motorcycle journalist for almost 20 years and is features writer for a number of publications including BikeSport News, Classic Racer and Road Racing Ireland, as well as being a regular contributor to MCN and MCN Sport.
He is PR officer for a number of teams and riders at both the British Superbike Championship and International road races, including PBM Ducati, John McGuinness, KTS Racing and Jackson Racing. He is also heavily involved with the Isle of Man TT Races working with the race organisation, writing official press releases and race reports as well as providing the TV and radio broadcasting teams with statistical information.