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Buriram MotoGP Sunday Race Notes, Part 1: Masterclass

By David Emmett |

A couple of decades ago, when Valentino Rossi was at the height of his powers, Rossi's crew chief Jeremy Burgess was interviewed. Burgess explained that if he was shown a photo of Rossi riding, he could identify what lap Rossi was on.

Is this some kind of weird superpower? Not really. Burgess was looking at Rossi's position on the bike, and dozens of tiny telltale signs of how he was adapting his riding to the bike and tires as they changed during race, as the fuel tank emptied and the tires wore and degraded.

If you have the kind of intimate knowledge of a rider's talent and habits that a crew chief does, you can spot those subtle changes. Or if you are an ex-rider and have been watching a particular rider for a long time, you can pick up on those signs too.

But that's not the real superpower here. The real superpower did not belong to Jeremy Burgess, as brilliant as he was. The real superpower's was Valentino Rossi's. In having the sensitivity to pick up on even the smallest change on the bike. In having an almost instinctual feeling for exactly what the tires will accept at any given moment. And in having the fine motor control over throttle, brake, and limbs to be able to make precisely the right movements to extract the maximum available performance from the bike at any given moment.

Why bring up a retired rider and crew chief and what they were doing twenty-odd years ago? Because that holds the key to explaining exactly why Marc Márquez felt it was suddenly necessary to drop behind his brother Alex on lap 7 of the 26-lap MotoGP race at Buriram on Sunday.

1
2025
MotoGP
Buriram, Thailand
Ducati
Alex Marquez
Francesco Bagnaia
Marc Marquez
CormacGP
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Comments

Great article David. When I saw Marc slow and look behind I thought it was maybe a motor issue and he was looking for smoke etc.

Long time GP fan and still not used to seeing Marc not folding the front etc

Is definitely a master tactician. His racecraft, drive, work ethic, etc, is peerless. He is still human though, and will lose his edge eventually. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out during the season, and the coming seasons. He looked invincible this weekend, but we all know that the pendulum swings. Or at least I hope it does, for the sake of the racing show!

I spent most of the race trying to explain front tire pressure to my wife and she thought I was making it up.
I was sure he was doing it on purpose. 

Ha! I made her read this.

Thank you David.

His superiority was evident. Alex was so close and yet so far off winning. The plan was probably to allow for some close running in case Pecco did his usual Saturday night/Sunday morning step and knowing that Alex might up his game too. They over-compensated. Did anyone else have much of a chance?

Difficult to know why Davide T was telling Marc to keep schtum in the winner’s enclosure and why all the subsequent ‘disclosure’ though. Is this an HRC-alike cover for another problem?

The simple facts are that he walked it and we now start worrying whether Pecco or Aprilia or anyone else can catch up. As a long term Rossi fan I have developed admiration for Marc’s achievements - especially the past season.

I do hope that this was one-off dominance but it doesn’t look like it after the last season.

What I saw yesterday was the Marquez of 10 years ago, or Rossi of 20: a rider who could win at will. This didn’t look like the right rider on the right bike on the right track, it was much more dominant than that. He looked like he wasn’t even having to try that much. Though it grieves me to say it,  I think Marquez will cruise to the title this year and have 3 or 4 race weekends to spare when he wraps it up. I think he will then go on to dominate for as long as the Ducati is top dog or he has another major injury. I hope it’s the end of the former.

From an entertainment perspective this is dull as dishwater. I dozed off  in both races due to both tiredness and boredom. I had a horrible moment in the Sunday race where I realised the commentators were reacting to the tire pressure slowdown in the same way as F1 pundits react to a marginally slow pit stop. In other words, the most dramatic part of the race was a slightly too elevated front tire pressure. How sad is that. It doesn’t matter how many times or how many people say otherwise, for me, watching battles for the other positions is always a bit second best, even if they can be quite entertaining.

Hopefully my €200 subscription won’t be entirely wasted and Moto2 and Moto3 will come to the rescue. 

"Hopefully my €200 subscription won’t be entirely wasted and Moto2 and Moto3 will come to the rescue. "

I had the same thoughts: "There goes $200." I am going to reverse my cadence to progress "up" through the classes instead of "down:" Moto3 -> Moto2 -> MotoGP. This way I actually get value. Plus this subscription (and others of course).

I was just rolling off the gas a bit, even sometimes on the straight, to brake hard and load the front.

Is this translated correctly - how does accelerating less let you brake harder, shouldn't you accelerate harder to brake harder? Or, does he roll off to prepare the braking and brake harder for shorter period of time?

David, start looking for “masterclass synonyms”, because I fear you will need them in order to avoid a boring repetition of this article's title. It will be a challenge, as a perfunctory search in Collins Dictionary did nothing to convince me you will have a lot of choices.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the article and wait eagerly, as ever, for Part II.

always learn from those who came before but the understanding that one need only do what it takes to win on Sunday and not 1 thing more is nothing that hasn't been practiced for eons. This trait becomes more common with the maturity of the champion. If anything the comparison to Rossi given in this article is more complimentary of him than Marquez. Rossi was in motoGP 4 years at that time, MM has been here 12. 

Anyone surprised to see MM, perhaps the most talented and driven motoGP rider ever, have bucketloads of pace over his rivals when on equal machinery (and enough racecraft to do exaclty what it took to win) would need to be very new to this sport. For those in such a situation I think it is far more important to understand that Marc Marquez is the same rider who, in 2012, went from dead last on a moto2 grid to victory in very tricky conditions. Feel free to review here: https://youtu.be/u5rE5KB_WWU This rider went on to win the MotoGP championship the next year, his rookie year in the class. Reaching back in time a bit: he is the only Alien, everyone else is very much terrerstrial.

Marquez does not put on a "Masterclass" becuase that would imply he has students. Students learn and perform as their teachers do. Marquez has observers. The observers see what can be done but cannot hope to acheive it. None know this better than the other Ducati riders. This will not be so forever but it is today, just as it was in the early 10's and teens. Enjoy!

Joshua, you hit the nail right on the head! Pecco said it best: Marc was just playing with us. This, coming from a 2X WC. It reminds me of Tiger in his epic 12 yr stretch when he was unbeatable. Someone asked Curtis Strange (for you that don't know who he is....there's the 'net) what the guys on tour will ahve to do to beat Tiger. Curtis said, 'There's nothing they can do. The guys that can beat him are in high school now. They've seen where he's set the bar and will try to achieve/exceed his bar.' Look at how Jorge, even Rossi, changed their riding style to what Marc was doing when he entered MGP. Look at the body position, of GP riders during Rossi's era and look at them now. VASTLY different because of Marc.

Marc ripped off five laps in the mid to high 1' 30 range before letting Alex past on lap seven. Alex and Bagnaia could only manage three 1' 30 laps, Morbidelli and Ogura two each. No one else got in the 1' 30 range. For eleven laps the pace at the front was low 31s, then increased to mid and high 31s before Marc finally passed Alex with three laps to go. He finished that lap at 31.6 and laid down a 31.2 before celebrating at the finish line on the final lap with a 32.0. Everyone else was in the 32s and 33s for the last three laps except for Zarco. He clocked a 31.8 on lap 24.

Yeah, Marquez seemed to have some speed in his pocket.

This race weekend Ducati showed they still have an advantage over the other manufacturers. Marquez showed he had an advantage over other Ducati riders.

Marquez' joy at rediscovering and demonstrating his dominant form was infectious. Even Gabbarini looked super happy while talking to Marquez in parc ferme.

“it doesn't matter if you win by 1 second or 3 seconds…”

Yeah but I’d love to see just how much he can win by at COTA. He did it once before to prove a point, I believe 2018 after the kerfuffle with penalties in Argentina. 

Great analysis as always David!

I thought they had the tyre pressure lap margins displayed on the dash. Might have dreamt it. 

I seem to remember last year a few riders dropping behind other riders to get their minimum number laps above the pressure limit. 

I think there's a fair amount of 'thank god the racing is back' madness going on. Marc turned up, was fastest by a big margin, pace wise, all weekend. No surprise he won both races comfortably. Given that he had such a large pace advantage, dropping behind his brother Alex was not a big issue. Different story if dropping behind might be for good because they were evenly matched. Without the pace advantage, the ability to be, or demonstrate how clever you are diminishes. You could be 10 times smarter but if your pace and the circumstances do not allow you to demonstrate it, you're as dumb as the next rider. 

This was not a Marquez special. This was special Marquez speed which led to 'easy' wins. Reminded me more of Rossi playing around in 2002. 

David,

Is this track’s pavement so old that is has little abrasive impact on the tires?  I was not surprised when I saw soft front tires (except for Pecco) in the sprint, but was shocked when I saw all the leaders successfully run soft fronts for the Grand Prix.


Great coverage as usual!  Thanks for the excellent work.

with the tone of an article by Mr Emmet. Yes it was a masterclass, but only because of the surplus of speed he had over the others. With regards to getting behind Alex to heat up his tires : any other rider would have done the same. this was nothing extra-ordinary or "the invention of a new way to win races".

If he had just continued and made sure he would win by over 15 seconds, THAT would have been realy outstanding (and a middle-finger to Michelin) . And I believe he had the pace to do just that.

I'm surprised no one has commented on the excellent work of our new chief of the stewards panel.

Excellent work mr.Crafar.

Was a fairly easy weekend.

The Agius penalty was pretty soft for the consequences it has on Vietti’s championship start.

Simon probably followed the book, But the consequence for Agius was minimal. I’d like to see a different approach in those cases. Not sure what’s the best solution though. Maybe something to be taken at the next round.


And then no punishment for Buchanan seems completely unlogical, but maybe someone can explain that one.

It’s funny that you warm to a rider or hate them without really knowing them. Due to this illogical process I’ve never really liked Marc Márquez. Having said that I have to admit that I’m liking the new Marc, he’s found some real humility due to his struggles and is a much more likeable person as a result. He’s more sensitive and connected to his emotions and isn’t too proud to hide them. 

He’s always been like that in my opinion. Both extravert and introvert. Extravert when in a relaxed, comfortable situation or after a good race. Introvert and hyper focused while ‘on the job’. Whenever you see him in the box during sessions, you get the latter, that hasn’t changed one bit. And he has always been playful when he could.

The 2015 fall out greatly reduced the number of occasions when he could really relax and show the ‘off-the-job’ Marc. He kept his guard up far more often. Closed the circle around him. For good reason. The retirement of Vale helped a lot in that respect.

That’s what we are seeing today, the Marc of old. The happy one at that.

And don’t be fooled. The ruthlesness, focus and determination that earmarks pretty much all great champions is still very much present. It never left. Never will. If push comes to shove, he’ll close the door again. The goal remains the same, to win. Only the means change.

He obviously gave it 110% to try to keep Marc behind him, and in no way made the overtake easy.  It is what you'd expect a younger brother to do, but it can't always be easy being Alex Marquez.