Since officially joining the Ducati factory team, Marc Marquez has established himself as the man to beat in MotoGP. His successive victories and relentless pace give the impression of total domination. However, a closer look at the timing data reveals a surprising contradiction: Marquez is no faster than Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin last year, despite riding a supposedly more powerful bike...
Contrary to expectations, lap times and overall times for some 2025 races are slower than those for 2024. If bagnaia had repeated his performances of last season, he would have won the last four rounds. At the Red Bull Ring, for example, Marquez won in 42:11.006, a time almost identical to that of bagnaia in 2024 (42:11.173). The difference comes from the fact that bagnaia, this year, finished twelve seconds behind this same pace.
This phenomenon is not limited to Austria. Sachsenring, the victory of Marquez was two seconds slower than that of bagnaia in 2024. To Assen, the Italian had taken seven seconds less last year than the Spaniard's winning time this season. Mugello offers an even more striking example: 18 seconds gap in favor of the 2024 time. The only circuit where 2025 was faster is Jerez, and only two seconds.
MotoGP 2025: The Mystery of the Great Regression!
These figures fuel a theory circulating in the paddock : the Ducati GP25 could be less efficient than its predecessor, the GP24. Marquez compensates with his talent and consistency, but his rivals on GP24 seem unable to find the level displayed by bagnaia ou Martin last year. This situation fuels speculation and could explain why other manufacturers are closely observing the technical trajectory of Ducati.
The dominance of Marquez, indisputable on a sporting level, therefore hides a paradoxical reality: The races are no faster, and sometimes even slower, than last year'sIf this trend continues, MotoGP could find itself facing stagnation, or even regression, which will reopen the debate on the technical limits of current machines and on the direction the discipline should take to preserve its spectacle.
