MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

In many ways, the 2025 MotoGP championship promises to be one of the more interesting in recent years. Perhaps not the most closely contested - the general consensus among fans and pundits alike is that you can take your pick of whether it will be Pecco Bagnaia or Marc Márquez who ends up lifting the 2025 MotoGP crown - but behind the title fight, there are some fascinating developments to watch out for.

We may as well start with that title battle. The dominance of Ducati was so great last year that it is hard to imagine anyone other than Marc Márquez or Pecco Bagnaia walking off with the title. Despite the fact that they are sticking with their GP24 engine - a little more on that later - both Bagnaia and Márquez showed pace during the test, Márquez' race simulation at Buriram almost fast enough to win a sprint race.

The problem with back-to-back races for journalists is that the Thursday of the second race feels pretty flat. We all spoke to the riders four days ago, and not enough has happened in the intervening period to make it interesting. Perhaps we journos are a little too jaded (which comes with the territory, to an extent). But there is a case to be made that there really isn't an awful lot to say.

Not a lot is not nothing, of course. There were a few things to talk about ahead of the Misano round of MotoGP. The fallout from the Alex Marquez/Pecco Bagnaia crash rumbles on, albeit relatively gently. Miguel Oliveira was announced as the first rider for Pramac Yamaha (and presumably Jack Miller will be announced later this weekend). There were some thoughts on the tire allocation and the grip of the track, as well as a few riders looking toward the test. And Dorna and the FIM announced a further extension of their current contract to organize the various motorcycling world championships under their control.

An apology of sorts

So let's start with the Marquez/Bagnaia collision. The pair had met on Sunday night in private to give their opinions of the crash. They parted having shared their thoughts, but without having reached an agreement.

Marc Márquez' return to victory and the collision between Alex Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia ate up a lot of attention at the Motorland Aragon GP. Understandably so. Márquez winning after 1043 days and leaving the safety of the Repsol Honda factory team for the impoverished Gresini Ducati squad is huge. And the 13 or 16 points Bagnaia lost as a result of the crash could potentially end up making a difference in the championship.

But there was a lot more happening during the MotoGP race at Aragon. Pedro Acosta returned to the podium during a sprint race for the first time since Mugello, and for the first time since Austin in a Sunday grand prix. Though Acosta earned his sprint podium, his Sunday podium was gifted to him when Bagnaia and Márquez crashed out ahead of him.

Yet this podium is significant. It is the result of reverting to a setup with which Acosta had booked so many successes earlier in the season. A disastrous outing at their home GP at the Red Bull Ring had convinced KTM that something needed to be done, and by abandoning the changes which offered potential advantages for a setup they understood and knew would be more consistent allowed Acosta to ride like he wanted to again.

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