It says loads about simply how good Marc Marquez was in 2025 that he nonetheless completed the season 78 factors away from the sphere regardless of lacking the ultimate 4 rounds. And it says loads about how the ultimate rounds might have performed out had he not been injured in a collision with Marco Bezzecchi on the Indonesian Grand Prix.
After a hellish journey again from a critical arm damage in 2020, Marquez achieved his final goal of successful once more. However he didn’t simply win: he returned to his pre-injury finest, and even exceeded it on the manufacturing facility Ducati.
Eleven grand prix victories, 14 dash wins, and a consecutive run of seven 37-point weekends from Aragon to Hungary. No rider within the dash period has loved such dominance or consistency: Pecco Bagnaia gained 11 grands prix in 2024, for instance, and nonetheless got here up 10 factors wanting a 3rd world title.
Marquez’s domination was magnified by the woes of Bagnaia within the storage subsequent door and the inconsistent type of Fabio Di Giannantonio on the third GP25.
This has raised questions on the place Ducati really sits now within the pecking order. Marquez rode round any issues that arose on the GP25, the others largely couldn’t. It has sparked fears of a repeat of the Honda years, when Marquez may extract essentially the most from a motorbike that the remainder of the steady appeared to battle on.
These questions gained’t be answered till after the primary few rounds of the 2026 season. However with Marquez again match and wholesome, it’s laborious to see Ducati being knocked off its perch simply.
By each metric, Marc Marquez would have gained the world championship in 2025. He amassed a complete of 545 factors from 18 rounds. In grands prix alone, he outscored Alex Marquez 355 to 309 factors. Within the sprints, he bested Alex Marquez 190 to 158 factors.
For the previous few years, MotoGP has loved title battles which have gone to the wire. In all three of these events, Marc Marquez wasn’t a combatant. That’s a bitter capsule to swallow for the remainder of the grid because it tries to plot the most effective plan of action to topple him in 2026.
However what would the 2025 season have appeared like if Marquez wasn’t there? On this hypothetical state of affairs, we’ve thrown Marquez out of the outcomes fully and promoted riders accordingly to create a brand new championship image.
Alex Marquez, Gresini Ducati, 2025 Valencia MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
Ducati may have gained 2025 MotoGP title even with out Marc Marquez
On this state of affairs, the place Marquez has been ejected from the outcomes of the 2025 season, Ducati nonetheless comes out a dominant victor.
Alex Marquez early-season consistency shortly strengthened his claims to ending not less than runner-up within the championship. With out his older brother hogging the limelight, a lot of the glory of the 2025 marketing campaign falls on the Gresini rider.
On the GP24, Alex Marquez wins eight grands prix as a substitute of the three he really achieved this season and brings his Sunday whole up from 309 to 344. That’s nonetheless 11 shy of the 355 Marc Marquez scored in grands prix alone in 2025.
It’s the sprints the place Alex Marquez actually stretches his legs, with 13 wins going his manner to assist enhance his Saturday tally from 158 to 191. Mixed, he ends 2025 with 535 factors to be topped world champion.
And by fairly a ways, too, as Marco Bezzecchi strikes into second within the standings for Aprilia. A sluggish begin to the 12 months in each grands prix and sprints finally kicks off from the British Grand Prix, as he raises his tally of wins from three to 6, whereas scoring 4 dash wins too.
Nonetheless, that’s solely ok for 401 factors, placing him 134 behind. In actual life, that hole was barely smaller at 114.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta inherits third on this state of affairs with 351 factors. Crucially, Marc Marquez’s absence from the 2025 outcomes would have seen Pedro Acosta rating his first wins. He’d have taken dash honours at Brno, earlier than registering a primary grand prix win in Hungary.
Marc Marquez’s absence doesn’t make life a lot better for his struggling team-mate Pecco Bagnaia, who nonetheless finishes the marketing campaign exterior of the highest three within the standings. He provides one other grand prix win to his credit score, however stays on two dash successes to finish the 12 months on 336 factors.
Different outcomes to notice would have been a dash win for Fabio Di Giannantonio in Hungary and one for Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo at Barcelona. Fermin Aldeguer’s first win would have are available in Austria as a substitute of Indonesia.
Probably the most intriguing factor about this state of affairs is the very fact Ducati’s older bike would have overwhelmed its new one comfortably, with the GP24 combining for 10 wins versus simply three for the GP25. How Ducati would have reacted to that raises an fascinating thought: wouldn’t it be pressured to dig even deeper to enhance the GP26, or financial institution all of its chips on the GP24?
