Round 2 of the MotoGP series was held in Argentina this weekend, with Marc Márquez (Ducati) again dominating. Marc broke the lap record with pole position and then won both of the weekend’s races, including Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s full GP.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the continued presence of Marc’s brother Alex (Ducati) near the front all weekend. Alex finished a close second both days. Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) finished third in the Sprint, while Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) finished third in Sunday’s full-length race.
Marc Márquez stretches his points lead prior to the third round in Austin, Texas. For full results and points for Saturday’s Sprint race, visit the MotoGP site here. For full results and points for Sunday’s MotoGP race, visit the MotoGP site here.
People like to forget just how “GOAT” Mick Doohan was. Even after a crash made it so he had to rear brake with his thumb he was absolutely untouchable on a vicious 400hp per liter bike with zero electronic rider aids.
More importantly, he was a good sportsman who didn’t go around running into people making some of them crash. Gush over MM all you want. You’ll never convince me that he shouldn’t have been banned a decade ago for his flagrant disregard for the safety of his fellow riders. His brother is leading the championship. MM does not exist.
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Agree about Dohan for sure. Not quite so harsh on Marquez.
Dohan may have run into other bikes to win. He was just so far ahead there was nobody around to hit. Serious GOAT contender.
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Yes, it was a strange but nice combination between the rider and the bike.
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Doohan’s entire advantage was power and traction management. When Honda had a selection of engines, mild to wild, he always chose the next step more wild than whatever anyone else used. He was pissed when they went away from leaded gas and saw peak hp drop. He was fair on the track but similar to Mladin was VERY self centered. He fought hard to avoid sharing data of any kind with his team-mate or the greater HRC org.
Ironically the thumb brake turned out to be gen 1 of traction control devices. Plenty of able-bodied riders adopted it for that reason and some use the configuration today.
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Not a MM fan in the least. But no doubt he’s a great rider, just don’t like how the commentators gush all over him, even saying if he wins the title this year he’s the GOAT. Far from it. He’s a fair weather rider so to speak. He’s only ever won (MotoGP) when he’s on the best bike. Rossi was hardly ever on the best bike. If MM wanted to be considered the GOAT he should’ve gone to the factory Aprillia.
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“He’s a fair weather rider so to speak. He’s only ever won (MotoGP) when he’s on the best bike.”
I’d dispute that. He won on that Honda a couple of years after nobody else could get anything out of it. He masked how bad that bike actually was until it broke him.
When Rossi was winning on the Yamaha it was the best bike. Even when they weren’t beating Marquez, a 4 yamaha’s were consistently in the top-10 in the championship standings, showing that it was a really good platform that anyone could ride well, much like the Ducati is now. Rossi was not good on the (then bad) Ducati, only slightly out-performing Nicky Hayden in the championship standings.
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““He’s a fair weather rider so to speak. He’s only ever won (MotoGP) when he’s on the best bike.””
no. MM is on the nest bike in 2025. MM hasn’t been on a top tier bike since 2015.
how many times has MM begged for rain…answer- a lot of times.
what would be your reason why MM begged for rain so often?
-my guess would be that always being on a second tier bike, rain would give him a chance to better compete against the top tier bikes since they have to slow down a bit while MM was more confident in those (cruddy) conditions.
i could be wrong.
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funny how everyone who actually competes with MM (whether they like him or not, personally) praises his exceptional talent. Yet, the internet forum experts dismiss or flat out deny it.
Crutchlow, a very good and tough Honda rider for 4 years while MM was also on a Honda, very recently stated that he had privileged information showing exactly what MM was doing with his Honda for those 4 years.
Crutchlow stated that he saw what MM was doing, understood what MM was doing but simply couldn’t do what MM was doing.
Crutchlow stated that as soon as MM gets a ducati (a factory top tier ride) the rest of the paddock might as well not show up.
even in 2013 and 2014 I’d wager the Yamaha was indeed an all-around better bike. Honda having more straight line speed. MM’s talent prevailed for the title wins he achieved. iirc, it was said that had MM only finished at least in 6th position for the races he DNF’d he’d have won 2015 too.
i am wondering how badly JM is going to behave when he finally shows up to race with MM. i doubt JM’s ego allows to him to accept defeat as classy as the rest of the field or at all. i expect JM to outright crash out MM. i fully believe JM and his ego are deluded enough to be of the mind that -if I can’t win the 2025 title than i will make sure you do not either-.
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You should say this a few more times.
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let’s also not forget that there was no race at Argentina in 2024.
so, MM’s 2025 race in Argentina (cleansweep win) on the Ducati was his first race on any Ducati in Argentina.
that should say something, no?
Pecco and JM are stated to have a vey good ability to learn/adapt to one another’s riding style…hence they ‘were’ each others main rivals (while MM was out of action). JM went so far as to ‘accuse’ Pecco of “copying his homework”. classy.
commentators Laverty and Hodgson (and Crutchlow and everyone else) both recently said the same thing about MM’s Ducati success…his riding style is unique and is still un-copied. it simply can’t be copied (which is what Crutchlow also stated and explained in the 4 years he rode with MM and had all the data/info he needed to copy MM’s results). his talent is in another league and his abilty to adapt (re-learn riding a bike which he had to do) to the Ducati is also unique and the pay-offs are clearly evident.
*it was also said (again…don’t shoot the messenger) that the Honda was not the best bike on the paddock (going back to 2004) when VR switched to the Yamaha and began winnning titles. it was said that it was only MM’s talent that brought him title wins on the Honda and to back up that statement is his success on the Ducati. MM’s success angers and frustrates Rossi fans. MM spanking VR’s successor (Pecco) on his way to meeting (and then beating in 2026) VR’s title wins record (and in half the time) at the same time beating VR’s protige, Pecco,…makes for doubly buttered VR fans. 2025 is exciting.
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JM will not attempt to foil anyone. He’s under no illusions about where he stands in the performance order. He chose a factroy salary over a the best bike. He knew a title defense would not materialize on the Aprilia.
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Even as MM93 has had a dominant first 4 races, its not boring as everyone says. I would think, those are the Marquez haters, who just cant deal with the itchy feeling under their skin that they still dislike him, but cant watch him winning. Zarco and Bezzechi moving up battling with Bagnia, what a Honda thats competitive, and its not MM93? Everyone is waiting for Martin, difficult to not see him in the mix. Its a great season so far, so glad i have MOTOGP subscription, FoxS2 is terrible. and for those that cant stand the aero, moto2,3 has none.
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Very long seat with many races left. No doubt some drama to come will Alice it up a bit
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Spice…. sheesh
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Ah, yes, and i meant Morbidelli, not Bezzechi. great that Alex is giving his brother a race, Bagnaia seems that little bit off, maybe in other upcoming races he will find his form. There was always, Kenny Roberts, Mick Doohan, Kevin schwantz, Wayne Rainey, Valentino Rossi, who all seemed to have that little extra, that let them dominate. I was surprised how steady Alex looked, and Marq was wobbling out of corners, tucked the front a few times running wide, it wasnt all “given” to him.
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That’s a for sure. Alex made Marc earn that one and he saved at least a couple crashes that I noticed. Huge difference if he crashed (stating the obvious).
i think (as poor as they were relatively speaking) Pecco had his best results since 2019 at Argentina.
Pecco is known for his abysmal results at Argentina.
I give odds that MM 3-peats at COTA but Pecco should start to ‘come alive’ sooner or later.
Agree
I always thought of this place as a bit of a Marquez fan club actually. Reading the comments, I can’t seem to find anything negative about Marquez at all. What I have been seeing quite a lot of over the last few years are negative comments about Ducati. It was similar but less so back in the day when it was all Honda all the time. Traditionally the GP series was dominated by the makers of everyman bikes, meaning the Japanese. Now you have to watch Moto3 to see a bike with a Japanese engine in it win. The natives are getting restless.
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It seems that nobody has caught up with last year’s Ducati. Bagnaia might be better off on last year’s Ducati as well.
And check Honda out. Fist non-Ducati and no crashed riders. I would rather see Yamaha do well. But they are working on a new platform and seem to be doing a decent job with it so far.
One of the advantages of not watching the races is that the Classification PDFs can often be more interesting and they don’t take much time to peruse. It’s the only effort I make to follow any racing, or any other “sport”, at all anymore. Kudos to Dirck for linking them up.
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MotoGP has gotten boring since it turned into MotoDucati.
I even forgot to watch the Sunday Grand Prix and watched it Monday after work.
ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz…
I am glad to see Marc Marquez healthy for once, though.
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That can only be said if your interest in racing is brand over action. MotoGP is closer now, with more top-performers and potential winners than it ever has been in its history. It’s never mattered much to me who made the bikes. Brand participation is a strong indicator of a series’ health, though.
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That’s your opinion.
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No, that is a fact, proven by easily retrievable data.
Despite there being only one win last year on a bike other than a Ducati, there were 6 different winners and in the seasons before that there were 7+.
Go back to before Ducati’s arrival as a competitive maker and you’ll see a fairly long time when there were only 3 men with any chance to win and much wider points gaps across the top-10.
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Save it.
That’s your opinion.
Today’s MotoGP is B O R I N G.
Boring… I’m so glad I cancelled my MotoGP subscription. I’ll follow WSBK instead, I think there’s racing over there.
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WSBK will also be a Ducati thing. Maybe more competitive between different riders.
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Well, at least MM is having fun. Free-to-view TV highlights have disappeared in the UK this year but it seems it’s no great loss.
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enough said about the old, has-been, wore out, dirtiest rider in history, MM spanking everyone (although I am confused because I was assured numerous times by numerous experts here that MM’s sole purpose on a bike is to torpedo fellow riders and that, strangely, doesn’t seem to be happening).
the even older JZarco should be riding a factory Honda.
if things continue the way they are, maybe AM rides a red Ducati next year?
when is PedroA going to live up to the years of hype(I remember all the top MotoGP riders (including MM) stating that Pedro will be a force to reckon with once he comes to MotoGP…that was in 2021?
PA keeps saying ‘the pressure doesn’t bother him’…what is bothering him then…second tier bike/team?
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