By Donovan Fourie | Guest Contributor | MotoGP Analyst
Jerez Delivers a Surprise Start
More than 100,000 people packed onto the banks of the Jerez Circuit for the Spanish round of the MotoGP Championship. While the previous races were more or less predictable, the Spanish round threw a few curve balls that no one saw coming. The first was Fabio Quartararo taking pole position and ending Marc Marquez’s streak of number one grid positions. What made this so remarkable was simply that he did it on the Yamaha M1, a bike that upon average throughout all its riders is the worst performing on the grid. To achieve this, the Frenchman didn’t just pull a rabbit out of the hat, he pulled a whole petting zoo. To put it into perspective, the next best Yamaha on the grid was Jack Miller back in 14th whose lap time was a full second slower than Quartararo’s.
Sprint Race Falls Flat for Fabio, Ducati Dominates
Sadly, we did not get to see a big dice between underdog Quartararo and Marc Marquez during the Sprint Race as Quartararo went down on lap two leaving Marquez to take an easy win followed by his brother and Pecco Bagnaia, with the other three Ducatis taking up the next three positions. It really was a show of Ducati dominance. The Main Race the next day was expected to run under a similar script, but all went awry when Marquez failed to engage his holeshot device on the starting line. With this disadvantage, he found himself in third on the first lap behind Bagnaia and Quartararo. He soon attempted to pass his teammate but found himself unexpectedly challenged as Bagnaia went elbows out for a good half a lap and returned any challenge Marquez made.
Bagnaia Struggles with New Ducati Setup
Similarly, Bagnaia is not having a good time on the other Factory Ducati. After Marquez’s crash, Alex Marquez stormed through to the lead and was not heard from again. Quartararo kept second place and Bagnaia seemingly sat behind the Yamaha rider, powerless to do anything about it. On the 2024 Ducati, Bagnaia was on form. On the 2025 bike, he is having difficulties. This seems strange given that the 2024 and 2025 bikes are almost identical. According to reports, the only difference between them is the electronics and the suspension. That’s enough to make a difference. Bagnaia complained that he didn’t have the same good feeling with the front that he had last year when he took his third win at Jerez. When asked about switching back to the 2024 format, Bagnaia answered that the 2025 package has more potential, implying that he had just not yet found it. If he believes it has more potential based on the equipment itself, then maybe he’s right. If he is basing this potential on Marquez’s pace then that could be a giant blunder.
Bagnaia Struggles with New Ducati Setup
Similarly, Bagnaia is not having a good time on the other Factory Ducati. After Marquez’s crash, Alex Marquez stormed through to the lead and was not heard from again. Quartararo kept second place and Bagnaia seemingly sat behind the Yamaha rider, powerless to do anything about it. On the 2024 Ducati, Bagnaia was on form. On the 2025 bike, he is having difficulties. This seems strange given that the 2024 and 2025 bikes are almost identical. According to reports, the only difference between them is the electronics and the suspension. That’s enough to make a difference. Bagnaia complained that he didn’t have the same good feeling with the front that he had last year when he took his third win at Jerez. When asked about switching back to the 2024 format, Bagnaia answered that the 2025 package has more potential, implying that he had just not yet found it. If he believes it has more potential based on the equipment itself, then maybe he’s right. If he is basing this potential on Marquez’s pace then that could be a giant blunder.
Marquez’s Crash Raises Ducati Questions
Eventually, it seemed as though Marquez elected to take the same tactic he used in Qatar which meant holding back, preserving the tyres and then making a charge later in the race. This terribly grown-up tactic lasted half a lap when his front unceremoniously tucked in the fast turn 8 sending him sliding through the gravel. This left the Spaniard hugely perplexed because he was not pushing hard and the crash came without warning. It’s possible that this could be due to Marquez’s inexperience with Ducati. A couple of years ago, Bagnaia had similar problems where he would lose the front without warning. When asked about it, the Italian in his broken English described it as “My bike is too good”. Many people read this and laughed at the thought of a bike being too good without taking time to empathise with someone not speaking in their mother tongue. What he meant is that the bike feels so stable all the time, that it’s difficult to feel where the edge is until you get to it, and suddenly find yourself on the floor. Marquez seems to have experienced the same problem at Jerez, and maybe he will gain some experience from it.
Bagnaia Struggles with New Ducati Setup
Similarly, Bagnaia is not having a good time on the other Factory Ducati. After Marquez’s crash, Alex Marquez stormed through to the lead and was not heard from again. Quartararo kept second place and Bagnaia seemingly sat behind the Yamaha rider, powerless to do anything about it. On the 2024 Ducati, Bagnaia was on form. On the 2025 bike, he is having difficulties. This seems strange given that the 2024 and 2025 bikes are almost identical. According to reports, the only difference between them is the electronics and the suspension. That’s enough to make a difference. Bagnaia complained that he didn’t have the same good feeling with the front that he had last year when he took his third win at Jerez. When asked about switching back to the 2024 format, Bagnaia answered that the 2025 package has more potential, implying that he had just not yet found it. If he believes it has more potential based on the equipment itself, then maybe he’s right. If he is basing this potential on Marquez’s pace then that could be a giant blunder.
Should Ducati Follow Marquez’s Lead?
Marc Marquez has a unique riding style that doesn’t match anyone else’s. We saw that when he took over the development role of Suter chassis in Moto2 and soon only Marquez could ride with that chassis and no one else. Then, he took over the lead at Honda and, again, the brand took huge damage because they had a machine only Marquez could ride and no one else. Letting Marquez lead the development path based on his pace is a mistake for all the other Ducati riders. KTM has a similar problem. Whispers have said that KTM has developed its latest machine to be a wheels-in-line bike, necessitating a smooth riding style where the bike stays in line without getting out of sorts. Why KTM chose this route – if this is indeed true – is baffling because its two factory riders, Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta, are ragged riders who prefer their motorcycles to move under them, drifting into corners.
KTM’s Smooth Bike Doesn’t Suit All Riders
To us mere mortals leading our normal lives, wheels-in-line makes sense. But MotoGP riders aren’t ordinary. Binder and Acosta like their bikes to move because it means they can brake harder. When the back wheel drifts sideways on the brakes, the rear wheel takes more of the weight of the machine. Were a rider able to drift his motorcycle a full 90º, then the front and back wheels would share 50% of the load. Whereas, braking in a straight line means 100% of the bike’s weight is on the front tyre which gets overloaded. So drifting means the ability to brake harder without overloading the front. That’s how Binder and Acosta ride and it’s probably why they are struggling with this bike. Maverick Vinales, on the other hand, is a master of wheel-in-line riding and naturally, the new KTM suits him down to a tee. This might be why we are seeing Vinales being the only KTM who is able to run at pace while the others are struggling.
Rider of the Day: Fabio Quartararo
On a final note, MotoGP has instituted a “Rider of the Day” prize much like that in Formula One where the fans vote for who they thought was the best rider on the day. With all the votes tallied, the winner was Fabio Quartararo. And he certainly earned it. As we said, the Yamaha has averaged the worst motorcycle on the grid, and Fabio took pole and second place in the Main Race. More so, he was nearly 20 seconds ahead of his teammate and closest Yamaha, Alex Rins. MotoGP has a problem in that we are seeing machines dominate over riders. If you’re not on a Ducati, you can’t win. It’s nice to see someone break that mould.