Marc Marquez Remains the Man to Beat After Thai MotoGP Test

The second and final day of MotoGP testing at Buriram saw no change in the pecking order as Marc Marquez remained at the top of the times, followed by his brother Alex.

It was Alex Marquez that ended up fastest in Sepang last week, however both days of the Thai MotoGP test were dominated by Marc Marquez, with the eight-time world champion finishing the test as the only rider able to break into the 1m 28s barrier.

The margin between Marc and Alex was more than halved compared to day one, but the elder of the two still proved too hot to handle when setting a fast time. What was another good sign for Ducati was the performance from Francesco Bagnaia, as the two-time MotoGP champion moved up the order after day one, ending the day fifth fastest as Ducati held three of the top five positions.

One of the stars on day one, Marco Bezzecchi repeated his impressive showing as the young Italian, who was without reigning world champion teammate Jorge Martin for both days, was third quickest aboard the RS-GP25.

It was expected that Aprilia’s development without the injured Spaniard would suffer, but Bezzecchi has been very quick throughout the test and able to get to grips with his new bike quicker than expected, which will have the Italian brand excited ahead of a very big 2025 season.

Another non-Ducati rider able to take the fight to the world champions was KTM’s Pedro Acosta, who continues to impress. Acosta was less than three tenths off Marquez’s top time and less than a tenth off Bezzecchi’s top three effort.

Talking of taking the fight to an opponent, that’s exactly what Acosta is continuing to do against his more experienced teammate Brad Binder, who was only 12th fastest. Staying with KTM, the final day of pre-season testing was better for Tech3’s Maverick Vinales who broke into the top ten. However, Enea Bastianini’s adaptation to the RC16 is still far from complete as he ended the test 15th.

Honda enjoyed another very fruitful day with Joan Mir claiming sixth place, but even more impressive than that was the margin to the leaders. Mir was just over half a second off the top time set by Marquez, which at this stage in Honda’s development is a very positive sign.

So far in testing Yamaha has held the advantage more often than not compared to its Japanese rivals, but that was not the case on day two in Buriram as the highest placed Yamaha rider was Fabio Quartararo in eighth.

Able to make big strides when it came to setting a time attack was rookie Ai Ogura, with the Trackhouse Racing rider leaping up the leaderboard to claim P11.

Now riders and teams will shift their focus to the season-opener which begins on 28 February at Buriram.

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