It says lots about how good Marc Márquez was in 2025 that he completed the season with a 78 level distinction regardless of lacking the ultimate 4 races. And it says lots about how the ultimate race would have turned out had he not been injured within the collision with Marco Bezzecchi on the Indonesian Grand Prix.
After a hellish journey again from a critical arm damage in 2020, Marquez achieved his final purpose of profitable once more. However he did not simply win. He returned to his pre-injury private finest and even surpassed it on the manufacturing unit Ducati.
He gained 11 Grands Prix, 14 in Sprints, and scored 37 factors over seven consecutive weekends from Aragon to Hungary. No rider within the dash period loved such superiority and stability. Pecco Bagnaia, for instance, gained 11 Grands Prix in 2024, however was nonetheless 10 factors shy of a 3rd world title.
Márquez’s benefit was additional amplified by the struggles of Bagnaia, who was within the storage subsequent door, and the erratic type of Fabio Di Giannantonio in his third GP25.
This raises the query of the place Ducati truly stands within the pecking order in the meanwhile. Marquez was in a position to keep away from the issues that occurred on the GP25, however the different automobiles had been largely unable to take action. This raised considerations that Marquez was a repeat of his Honda days, the place he was in a position to squeeze essentially the most out of a motorbike the place the remainder of the secure appeared to be struggling.
These questions will not be answered till after the primary few rounds of the 2026 season. However with Marquez match and wholesome, it is exhausting to think about Ducati being knocked off its perch simply.
By all requirements, Marc Marquez would have been world champion in 2025. He scored a complete of 545 factors in 18 rounds. Within the Grand Prix alone, he outscored Alex Marquez by 355 to 309 factors. Within the dash, he outscored Alex Marquez 190 to 158 factors.
In recent times, MotoGP has loved fierce title competitors. On all three events, Marc Marquez was not a combatant. It is a bitter tablet to swallow for the remainder of the grid attempting to plan the most effective plan of action to defeat him in 2026.
However what would the 2025 season have been like with out Marquez? On this hypothetical situation, we created a brand new championship composition by fully excluding Marquez from the outcomes and selling the rider accordingly.
Alex Marquez, Gresini Ducati, 2025 Valencia MotoGP
© Gold & Goose
Ducati might have gained the 2025 MotoGP title with out Marc Marquez
On this situation, the place Marquez is excluded from the 2025 outcomes, Ducati would nonetheless be the clear winner.
Alex Marquez’s consistency at the beginning of the season has quickly strengthened his case for not less than a second place end within the championship. With out his brother within the highlight, a lot of the glory for the 2025 season would fall on the Gresini rider.
In GP24, Alex Marquez took eight wins as a substitute of the three he truly achieved this season, taking his complete Sunday win from 309 to 344. That is nonetheless 11 in need of Marc Marquez’s 355 Grand Prix wins alone in 2025.
The place Alex Marquez actually shines is within the sprints, the place he gained 13 races and helped push his complete to 191 factors from 158 on Saturday. He’ll end 2025 with a complete of 535 factors and be topped world champion.
And Marco Bezzecchi has moved as much as second place within the Aprilia rankings by a substantial margin. This 12 months he slowed to a sluggish begin in each Grand Prix and Sprints, however ultimately improved his win complete from three to 6, beginning with the British Grand Prix, and in addition gained 4 Sprints.
However that is solely 401 factors, a distinction of 134 factors. In actuality, the distinction was barely smaller at 114.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta took third place on this situation with 351 factors. Importantly, if Marc Marquez had not taken half within the 2025 outcome, Pedro Acosta might have gained his first victory. He would have gained dash honors at Brno earlier than recording his first Grand Prix win in Hungary.
Marc Marquez’s absence hasn’t made life a lot better for teammate Pecco Bagnaia, as he nonetheless completed the season outdoors the highest three within the standings. He added one other Grand Prix win to his credit, however maintained his two dash successes and completed the 12 months with 336 factors.
Different notable outcomes can be a dash win for Fabio Di Giannantonio in Hungary and a win for Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in Barcelona. Fermin Aldeguer’s first victory would have been in Austria, not Indonesia.
What’s most intriguing about this situation is the truth that Ducati’s previous bike would have simply crushed the brand new bike, with a complete of 10 wins within the GP24, however solely 3 wins within the GP25. It makes me marvel how Ducati would have reacted to this. Will we be compelled to dig deeper to enhance the GP26, or will we’ve got to place all our chips within the GP24?
