A few great iconography was on display on two of the outstanding performers of the Spanish Grand Prix, as they celebrated the milestone success in front of the crowd at Gerès last weekend.
Yamaha’s Fabio Cartalaro was surprised on Saturday, and he ended his Paul domination by Mark Marquez in 2025 to score a new lap record. Both Yamaha and Quartarraro took the pole again and finished their 1134 days of waiting back to Indonesia 2022.
All this took place on the circuit where Quartarraro got his first Moto3 pole in 2015, his first MotoGP pole in 2019, and his first premier class victory in 2020.
For Alex Marquez, two days after a nasty fast crash in Friday’s practice, his maiden Motogpu’s victory in front of a Sunday crowd of over 100,000 people chanting his name would not have made it to a better place. Five years ago, he made his MotoGP debut at the Spanish Grand Prix as a factory Honda rider. At the time he ruled the Moto2 champions, but his inventory wasn’t that big.
His step into MotoGP at the time was considered a large condition for Marc Marquez to sign his large four-year HRC deal in the winter, which aimed to run until the end of 2024. He had already been out on the LCR team by Honda in 2021. At the end of the Grand Prix, he won the 27.350s Quartararro in 12th place.
That same Alex Marquez is now the best class Grand Prix winner and leader of the World Championship, despite having surpassed his older brother Marc Marquez.
“When I saw Mark crash, I said, ‘Alex, today is your day. You can’t do it like Austin, who has lost a really great opportunity,'” he said. “I’ve done overtaking and moving in the right place…I know I have a mark on the track. I have some opportunities, some opportunities, but I know I’m the strongest without him.”
Mark Marquez crashed from third on lap 25, ultimately proved that Alex Marquez and Fabio Cartararo achieved the most popular results of the season. They both managed to do the best Pecco Bagnaia, and raised some unpleasant questions, as in Austin’s case – theoretically the best position to pick up the piece when Mark Marquez drops the ball.
Mark Marquez abandons a big opportunity in front of the crowds of the house
For everything in 2025, the idea was that the only person who could beat what many describe as the most complete Mark Marquez was himself, at 32. Quartarraro may have surprised him in qualifying, but the practice pace suggested that Marquez’s late-race speed ultimately saw him at the Grand Prix.
He quickly dispatched Yamaha in Saturday’s sprint, maintaining a 100% record in the half-distance race, extending the championship lead by 20 points with Alex Marquez and 31 with Bagnaia.
In the end, Mark Marquez’s Grand Prix was destined from the start. The poor launch, which initially struggled to attract holeshot devices, fell to third place behind early Bagnaia on the opening lap.
The pair engaged in a brief repetition of the 2024 duel until turns 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, and came into contact with the latter halfway through the heart rate. They both survived it and Bagnaia held it firmly. On lap 3, Marquez passed through the left-handed turn 7. He rejoins, finishing 12th and leading Alex Marquez’s points only once, Bagnaia is 19 years old.
The eight-time world champion admits it was a mistake, but “I didn’t understand” as “I was cruising like in the first race” and is building his time to push his path into the battle for victory when the race was wearing.
| 2025 MotoGP Spain GP Race Path Analysis: Full Distance | |||||
| wrap | AM73 | FQ20 | PB63 | MV12 | MM93 |
| 2 | 37.527 | 37.567 | 37.422 (FL) | 38.551 | 37.547 |
| 3 | 37.378 | 37.764 | 37.535 | 37.653 | crash |
| 4 | 37.349 (FL) | 37.502 (FL) | 37.661 | 37.575 (FL) | 38.198 |
| 5 | 37.501 | 37.686 | 37.882 | 37.645 | 38.055 |
| 6 | 37.798 | 37.822 | 37.967 | 37.927 | 38.007 |
| 7 | 37.753 | 37.738 | 37.85 | 37.728 | 37.866 |
| 8 | 37.98 | 37.906 | 37.99 | 37.945 | 38.042 |
| 9 | 38.066 | 38.02 | 38.037 | 37.913 | 38.367 |
| 10 | 37.832 | 38.061 | 37.942 | 38.042 | 38.079 |
| 11 | 37.995 | 38.811 | 38.178 | 37.955 | 37.922 |
| 12 | 37.946 | 38.211 | 38.132 | 38.076 | 37.879 |
| 13 | 38.077 | 38.199 | 38.263 | 38.053 | 38.192 |
| 14 | 37.963 | 37.991 | 38.247 | 37.979 | 38.056 |
| 15 | 37.708 | 38.219 | 38.181 | 38.249 | 38.146 |
| 16 | 37.913 | 38.091 | 38.103 | 38.197 | 38.258 |
| 17 | 37.979 | 38.084 | 38.36 | 38.272 | 37.775 |
| 18 | 37.862 | 38.189 | 38.031 | 37.932 | 37.544 (FL) |
| 19 | 38.016 | 38.227 | 38.257 | 38.21 | 37.968 |
| 20 | 38.195 | 38.329 | 38.39 | 38.276 | 38.69 |
| twenty one | 38.191 | 38.411 | 38.301 | 38.483 | 38.65 |
| twenty two | 38.367 | 38.3 | 38.291 | 38.268 | 38.564 |
| twenty three | 38.287 | 38.165 | 38.182 | 38.312 | 38.102 |
| twenty four | 38.738 | 38.616 | 38.495 | 38.677 | 38.073 |
| twenty five | 39.331 | 38.353 | 38.591 | 39.149 | 38.439 |
| Average pace | 1M37.990S | 1M38.094S | 1M38.095S | 1M38.128S | 1M38.105S |
| difference | 0.104s | 0.105 seconds | 0.138s | 0.115 seconds | |
Looking at the top four paces with Mark Marquez, it looks exactly how he felt the Grand Prix was going. With the damaged Ducati GP25, he set the fastest lap in the race – 1M37.544S -18 laps.
His pace was on average Alex Marquez’s shy, slightly faster than Vinares and averaged 0.010 seconds per lap than Bagnaia.
Only Alex Marquez was faster than him when Mark Marquez cleaned his tires and settled into rhythm again from lap 6 to 24.
| 2025 MotoGP Spain GP Race Path Analysis: Lap 6-24 | |||||
| wrap | AM73 | FQ20 | PB63 | MV12 | MM93 |
| 6 | 37.798 | 37.822 | 37.967 | 37.927 | 38.007 |
| 7 | 37.753 | 37.738 | 37.85 | 37.728 | 37.866 |
| 8 | 37.98 | 37.906 | 37.99 | 37.945 | 38.042 |
| 9 | 38.066 | 38.02 | 38.037 | 37.913 | 38.367 |
| 10 | 37.832 | 38.061 | 37.942 | 38.042 | 38.079 |
| 11 | 37.995 | 38.811 | 38.178 | 37.955 | 37.922 |
| 12 | 37.946 | 38.211 | 38.132 | 38.076 | 37.879 |
| 13 | 38.077 | 38.199 | 38.263 | 38.053 | 38.192 |
| 14 | 37.963 | 37.991 | 38.247 | 37.979 | 38.056 |
| 15 | 37.708 | 38.219 | 38.181 | 38.249 | 38.146 |
| 16 | 37.913 | 38.091 | 38.103 | 38.197 | 38.258 |
| 17 | 37.979 | 38.084 | 38.36 | 38.272 | 37.775 |
| 18 | 37.862 | 38.189 | 38.031 | 37.932 | 37.544 |
| 19 | 38.016 | 38.227 | 38.257 | 38.21 | 37.968 |
| 20 | 38.195 | 38.329 | 38.39 | 38.276 | 38.69 |
| twenty one | 38.191 | 38.411 | 38.301 | 38.483 | 38.65 |
| twenty two | 38.367 | 38.3 | 38.291 | 38.268 | 38.564 |
| twenty three | 38.287 | 38.165 | 38.182 | 38.312 | 38.102 |
| twenty four | 38.738 | 38.616 | 38.495 | 38.677 | 38.073 |
| Average pace | 1M38.035S | 1M38.178S | 1M38.168S | 1M38.131S | 1M38.115S |
At least, today’s podium was being offered. The factory Ducati riders admit that they can’t make these mistakes to fight for the title. It was his second in his five rounds, leading to the suggestion that he was under pressure on Bagnaia after a rap one battle.
Given his speed and what he’s seen up to this season, it’s not entirely piled up. He suggested that he probably had a slightly more lean angle or that the turbulent air from the bike ahead had upset the front in a way that he was not ready. He essentially led all the sprints on similar terms and was hoping to do so again on Sunday.
But with all his speed this year, he can’t keep a set of rivals off the hook, which have not actually won at the pure pace of this season.
Reevaluation of Pecco Bagnaia’s 2025 MotoGP Title Credentials
Undoubtedly, the biggest disappointment from the Spanish Grand Prix was Pecco Bagnaia. The winner of the final three Gramp Awards at Geres, this was expected to be a weekend when things really gathered for Bagnaia.
Except it was also intended to be in Qatar. And it didn’t pan out exactly. The issue with the regular fuel tanks in Sprint prevented him from charging more than a third of his claims at Geres, but his early fight with Mark Marquez, which he came up on top, looked like a real Bagnaia had finally appeared.
But that didn’t happen. He passed Alex Marquez in the final corner of lap four and then failed to overhaul Fabio Cartalaro’s lacking Yamaha (which was the bottom of last weekend’s speed trap).
Bagnaia said he couldn’t do anything on his Ducati frontend when he was close to Quartararro last year, and Alex Marquez’s data showed he was doing with the GP24.
“It’s odd that last year I was really strong corners – corners 11 and 12 – I’ve been struggling a lot this season,” he explained. “When I was behind (someone). And when I saw Alex, he was so strong I was like last year.”
Alex Marquez, 2025 Spain Motogp
“To be honest, Mark is very good at getting on everything. I can’t do that. I want to feel good and have a good feeling on the front, and in this situation, it’s new to me. I’ve never felt this way.
For pace analysis, Bagnaia is only 0.001s slower than Quartararro, so this at least tallies with what he says. This is the main focus of Monday’s post-race test, but he says he won’t be returning to the full GP24 as the new bike has “more possibilities.”
But he turned his fingers to the issue that Mark Marquez admits could ride. If he can’t find a fix, he’s a bit stuck. And if that were to be the case where he had to continue doing it for the rest of the season, his best at Geres would be to finish behind Yamaha and become the second best Ducati in a race where Mark Marquez was not involved.
Some pointed out the title of last year’s consistency as a reason why Bugnaia is not yet written down. However, it is worth pointing out that Bagnaia didn’t score in the race. Jorge Martin slammed him with good results.
In two races, Mark Marquez crashed, Bagnaia won, finishing third. So they weren’t bad at all. Still, he couldn’t put himself in the championship lead. This is concern, as well as the fact that Marquez didn’t crash – Bagnaia would have not even finished on Geres’ podium.
Future headaches that come with Ducati’s way
Alex Marquez’s consistency is second in all sprints, second in three of the first five grand prixes, and now the winner – if Mark Marquez started 2025 as a title favourite, there was at least what was expected of Bagnaia.
The latter fact remains unchanged after the Spanish Grand Prix. However, it is clear that the real Ducati Number 2 is wearing blue instead of red.
Ducati has proven to be rather skilled in managing title fights throughout Marc in recent years, but here are the actual headaches over the coming weeks:
Monday’s test at Gerres will tell you whether the younger Marquez brother will find some new items in his box and try them out. But certainly now it’s important that Ducati try to strengthen the Alex Marquez package as much as possible.
In recent rounds we’ve seen KTM and Yamaha step up to be a podium threat, but Honda isn’t too far away. In both Qatar and Spain, Bagnaia was claimed against Maverick Venares (KTM) and Fabio Cartalaro (Yamaha).
If that continues, Ducati will have to rethink something. Of course, putting eggs in another basket risks alienating Rider, the proven double world champion of 2027 marking cam contract negotiations.