Marquez makes MotoGP history in Argentina

It wasn’t that long ago it appeared as if we’d probably already seen all of Marc Marquez’s milestones as a new era of MotoGP was ushered in with new faces, new winners and new champions all relegating the Spanish star’s achievements to the past. But just two races into the 2025 MotoGP World Championship, Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) is not only back to his winning ways, but he’s rewriting the history books in his first year as a factory Ducati rider. 

His second full-length GP win at the Argentine Grand Prix makes him the first rider in the history of the Sprint-format to record back-to-back perfect weekends. It’s what Ducai technical guru Gigi Dall’Inga described as “beautiful” at the end of the race. And given Marc didn’t have it all his own way and still crossed the line over a second clear, it’s hard to argue with that reckoning.

Just as it was in the opening round, it was his brother Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) who pushed him all the way to the chequered flag. And while Marc may have let his former teammate through to the lead in the opening round in Thailand, it was a mistake on lap four which let the number 73 through, and a lead he convincingly held for the next 17 laps. 

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“Today I pushed,” Marc laughed in Parc ferme, saying he didn’t feel as comfortable with the rear tyre as he was expecting, even revealing he was happy to concede the win to Alex. “But in the end, I start to feel better and better, and I’m super impressed about the level of Alex during these two races.”

Behind the duelling brothers, Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) got a decent start from fourth on the grid and was up to third, but came under early and unlikely pressure from front-row starter Johann Zarco (LCR Honda), as the two VR46 riders in Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio were making the most of their soft-rear tyre choice to hold off the two factory Red Bull KTM riders in Brad Binder in Pedro Acosta. 

Morbidelli muscled his way past first Zarco and then Bagnaia to find himself in the podium places early in the race – a position he hadn’t been in since Jerez 2021 – and was three quarters of a second behind Marc. While Binder was defending sixth place from Di Giannantonio, rookie Ai Ogura’s (Trackhouse Aprilia) impressive start to 2025 continued, as he spent much of his race battling for eighth place with 2020 world champ Joan Mir (HRC) and uber-talent Acosta, a place which he earned and kept all the way to the finish. He nearly went one better in the final stages, too, crossing the line just over a tenth behind Binder in seventh.

But the ride of the day really must go to Alex Marquez, who looked more comfortable controlling the race from the front than his dominant brother, who looked as ragged as we’ve yet seen as he did his level best to keep the Gresini rider within striking distance. 

The biggest moment for the eight-time world champ came on lap 16 of 25 when that troublesome rear tyre let go through the fast Turn 6, a moment that very nearly ended his race, save for those cat-like reflexes. With Morbidelli now some two seconds behind him, instead of settling for second place and 20 points, he lit the wick and chased his brother down, making his first move two laps later. Not convinced he could make it stick, he released the brakes and ran wide allowing Alex back through with six laps to go. But there were no such mistakes the next time around when he passed the GP24 at the end of the back straight and put his head down for the final five laps to diminish any hope of a last lap stoush between the two. 

Pecco Bagnaia got within one second of Morbidelli in the closing stages, but didn’t have the pace to fight his fellow VR46 Academy rider for the final podium place. Di Giannantonio did manage to nab fifth place from Zarco on the final lap, while Acosta and Mir rounded out the top 10. 

From 13th on the grid, Aussie Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) got a terrible start which dropped him back to 17th on the opening lap. He ended the race in 14th place, helped in part by a crash at Turn 1 on lap one by Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and a long-lap penalty by Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) for causing Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) to crash. Bastianini remounted and finished 18th.

But when Marc Marquez crossed the line some 1.3 seconds clear of his younger brother, he notched up his milestone 90th grand prix win, equalling Angel Nieto’s win tally and joining him as the third most successful rider in history in terms of GP victories. 

His so-far perfect run means he leads the championship on 74 points, 16 clear of his brother Alex (58pts) and 31 points ahead of teammate and former world champ Pecco Bagnaia (43). Morbidelli (37) is in fourth, ahead of the impressive Ogura (25), while Miller is in 14th place with seven points.

The series now heads north to the Circuit of the Americas for Round 3 over 28-30 March.