The 2025 MotoGP season is almost upon us, set to kick off in Thailand on March 2, and already title predictions are being made.
The 2025 MotoGP rider line-up involves a massive amount of re-shuffling, with Spain’s 2024 champion Jorge Martin swapping Ducati for Aprilia.
Can another Spaniard, multi-time champion Marc Marquez, step it up another gear now that he’s moved on to the No.1 factory Ducati team?
Marquez upgrades his year-old Ducati for a factory seat alongside the factory’s star rider Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia in a terrific twosome where both expected to fight for the title, albeit probably against each other.
“Marquez will be the man to beat,” says experienced observer Marco Melandri, the now-retired former MotoGP and World Superbike Championships contender.
“When he has to be there, he’s there. He doesn’t make mistakes and even when rides go badly, he straightens them out.
“He crashes more than the others, but he does it when he can afford to, which is in practice.
“The GP23 was far from the GP24 but no-one else got ahead of him with last year’s bike. It is an important yardstick.
“Should Martin get the better of him, for Pecco it could be a boost, a stimulus for the response, likewise it could give him the knowledge that he is beatable.
“However, I think Marc will reap his rewards.”
Meanwhile, many think 2024 champion Martin will pay the price for stepping onto the arguably less-competitive Aprilia.
Melandri reckons young Spaniard Pedro Acosta will eventually become a star in MotoGP, but probably not in 2025.
Asked if Acosta could contend this year, Melandri said: “If the bike improves, yes.
“At the moment KTM is not having a golden moment in general so it will not be easy.
“But in my opinion, he is the future.”
Melandri added about Acosta: “With Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini in the team, we will see his level.
“But if he had a Ducati, he would already be fighting at the front.”
Photo courtesy Gold & Goose/Red Bull
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FINAL 2024 MOTOGP RIDERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
| Pos. | Entrant | Points | |
| 1 | Jorge Martin
Prima Pramac Racing (GP24) |
508.00 | |
| 2 | Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati Lenovo Team (GP24) |
498.00 | |
| 3 | Marc Marquez
Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP23) |
392.00 | |
| 4 | Enea Bastianini
Ducati Lenovo Team (GP24) |
386.00 | |
| 5 | Brad Binder
Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) |
217.00 | |
| 6 | Pedro Acosta
Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) |
215.00 | |
| 7 | Maverick Vinales
Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) |
190.00 | |
| 8 | Alex Marquez
Gresini Racing MotoGP (GP23) |
173.00 | |
| 9 | Franco Morbidelli
Prima Pramac Racing (GP24) |
173.00 | |
| 10 | Fabio di Giannantonio
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing (GP23) |
165.00 | |
| 11 | Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) |
163.00 | |
| 12 | Marco Bezzecchi
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing (GP23) |
153.00 | |
| 13 | Fabio Quartararo
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) |
113.00 | |
| 14 | Jack Miller
Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) |
87.00 | |
| 15 | Miguel Oliveira
Trackhouse Racing (RS-GP24) |
75.00 | |
| 16 | Raul Fernandez
Trackhouse Racing (RS-GP23/24) |
66.00 | |
| 17 | Johann Zarco
CASTROL Honda LCR (RC213V) |
55.00 | |
| 18 | Alex Rins
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) |
31.00 | |
| 19 | Takaaki Nakagami
IDEMITSU Honda LCR (RC213V) |
31.00 | |
| 20 | Augusto Fernandez
Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) |
27.00 | |
| 21 | Joan Mir
Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) |
21.00 | |
| 22 | Luca Marini
Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) |
14.00 | |
| 23 | Pol Espargaro
Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) |
12.00 | |
| 24 | Dani Pedrosa
Red Bull KTM Factory (RC16) |
7.00 | |
| 25 | Stefan Bradl
HRC Team (RC213V) |
2.00 | |
| 26 | Lorenzo Savadori
Aprilia Racing/Trackhouse (RS-GP24) |
0.00 | |
| 27 | Remy Gardner
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) |
0.00 | |
| 28 | Andrea Iannone
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing (GP23) |
0.00 | |
| 29 | Michele Pirro
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing (GP23) |
0.00 | |