After simply two weeks, pre-season testing for the 2025 MotoGP marketing campaign is over and in simply 14 days’ time bikes might be again on monitor at Buriram for observe forward of the Thai Grand Prix.
And Ducati might be doing so working manufacturing unit bikes that includes year-old engines, albeit with a number of tweaks the marque is refusing to speak about.
For the entire 5 days of testing we’ve had this February, the overarching storyline has been whether or not or not Ducati will ditch its GP25 engine for the GP24 motor that received 16 of 20 grands prix final season.
That call regarded clearer after day one at Buriram, and was confirmed on Thursday. A two-year engine freeze and never sufficient tangible beneficial properties with the 2025 engine compelled Ducati right into a cautious determination to proceed with the GP24 unit.
As manufacturing unit riders do, each Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia stored particulars in regards to the 2025 engine to a minimal. Bagnaia stated on Wednesday that Ducati had been unable to discover a good braking stability with the brand new engine, whereas Marquez famous it had “very weak factors”.
Bagnaia later admitted he’d been mendacity to the media and knew from the off the GP24 was seemingly going to be the race engine for this 12 months.
Ducati has sufficient current examples of pre-season engine dramas to have helped affect its determination. A reasonably problematic 2022 testing section with the total GP22 engine led the manufacturing unit crew to modify to a hybrid model for the season, whereas the GP23 engine had a transparent weak spot below braking that was eradicated with the GP24.
The GP24 is well the perfect bike Ducati has ever constructed, and is arguably the perfect MotoGP bike ever. What many have considered as a headache this winter has really been a luxurious for the world champion producer.
Ducati additionally confirmed that it was “an actual chance” that its manufacturing unit riders begin the 12 months with a 2024 engine in addition to 2024 aero and chassis. Bagnaia was a bit extra diplomatic, calling his present bike the “GP24.9”. However this has led many to sound alarm bells, claiming Ducati is standing nonetheless and this might be music to the ears of its rivals.
Nicely, not fairly. The typical successful margin of the GP24 throughout the 2024 marketing campaign in comparison with the closest non-GP24 was round 3.5s. Ducati’s rivals have taken a step over this winter, however no person finds that period of time from one 12 months to the subsequent.
2025 Buriram check quickest laps per producer
Ducati – 1m28.855s (Marc Marquez)
Aprilia – 1m29.060s (Marco Bezzecchi)
KTM – 1m29.133s (Pedro Acosta)
Honda – 1m29.133s (Joan Mir)
Yamaha – 1m29.586s (Fabio Quartararo)
The Marquez brothers annexed the highest of the timesheets throughout each days of testing at Buriram, with Ducati finishing a clear sweep over the winter after Alex Marquez was quickest in Barcelona and Sepang on his Gresini-run GP24. Marc Marquez, on the hybrid GP25, set the tempo on the finish of the Buriram check, albeit lacking out on the lap report by 0.155s. Getting his time assault in late on the ultimate day virtually definitely performed an element on this.
However, outright instances apart, it was within the race working the place Marc Marquez actually caught the attention and additional quashed any notion that Ducati’s warning will backfire.
Marc Marquez, 2025 Buriram MotoGP Check
2025 Buriram check long term averages
(Above 20 laps)
Marc Marquez – Ducati – 1m30.378s (23 laps)
Alex Marquez – Ducati – 1m31.071s (23 laps)
Pedro Acosta – KTM – 1m31.016s (22 laps)
Brad Binder – KTM – 1m31.016s (22 laps)
Johann Zarco – Honda – 1m31.559s (23 laps)
(Under 20 laps)
Marco Bezzecchi – Aprilia – 1m30.093s (13 laps)
Joan Mir – Honda – 1m30.338s (13 laps)
Fabio Quartararo – Yamaha – 1m30.361s (12 laps)
Franco Morbidelli – Ducati – 1m31.019s (18 laps)
Marquez common run tempo throughout the 23 laps was 0.518s faster than the perfect race lap ever on the Thai GP, which was set by Marco Bezzecchi on a GP22-spec Ducati in 2023. At no level in his run did Marquez drop into the 1m31s, both.
He moved to brush this off considerably, noting that Alex Marquez would have been nearer to him had it not been for electronics points through the Gresini rider’s run. Both means, Ducati comes out of it wanting stronger than the remainder nonetheless.
There’s a noticeable absentee from the above race simulation knowledge. Bagnaia endured a troublesome opening day of the Buriram check the place nothing actually labored for him on his bike. That led to him “ranging from zero” on the ultimate day, although his crew was capable of flip issues round and get him feeling assured once more.
Fifth total on the timesheets, he didn’t full any significant race run programme – although was proud of how his tempo was on used tyres.
Ducati parking its 2025 chassis could come as one thing of a shock, given Bagnaia needed it launched final 12 months after testing it. That will properly haven’t been the perfect transfer, primarily based on this pre-season.
That chassis was examined at Misano final September, a monitor Bagnaia is aware of just like the again of his hand, the place the Ducati has all the time labored properly, and was coated in rubber from the earlier race weekend. The identical was true of when it was trialled at Barcelona final November.
Unsurprisingly, in numerous grip situations at Buriram, the chassis didn’t fairly carry out as anticipated. Shelving it, in addition to the 2025 aero, is not any unhealthy factor. The primary 4 races are at tracks that by no means actually paint a real reflection of how the season will unfold, with Buriram, Rio Honda, COTA and Lusail all throwing up distinctive challenges.
These things might be rolled out once more for the post-Spanish Grand Prix check at Jerez on the finish of April. In 2022 and 2023, breakthroughs at that Jerez check proved pivotal in Bagnaia’s title costs in these seasons.
As clearly confirmed this winter, leaping onto what is kind of the 2024 bundle will nonetheless make sure the manufacturing unit Ducati crew is aggressive within the early rounds. And Bagnaia did supply up a worrying discovery for Ducati’s rivals.
“I used to be fairly satisfied from the beginning that the ’24 was higher,” he stated.
“Then we labored, we tried to enhance however for the primary day in Malaysia me and Marc had been of the identical opinion that the GP24 was nonetheless a bit higher. We tried to enhance quite a bit on the braking, however we didn’t succeed. So, we labored quite a bit right here with the ’24 and we understood that we nonetheless have some margin on it. So, that is nice.”
To nonetheless “have margin” on a motorcycle that was already at such a excessive degree needs to be excessive reward Gigi Dall’Igna takes to coronary heart whereas he wrestles with the frustration of his different 2025 developments not fairly working as hoped…
