Winners and losers from the MotoGP Argentina GP

Winner: Marc Marquez

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Ducati Corse

If his Thai GP win on the opening weekend of the season was remarkable only for its sheer dominance, Marc’s defeat of his brother Alex in Argentina was a real testament to his ability to adapt under pressure. Despite being stretched to the limit and losing the lead for much of the race, Marc changed his riding style to ensure he had a little left in his tyres at the end. That allowed him to pull off what looked like an easy move to regain the lead and pull away.

What will be equally troubling for his opponents is the fact that Marc won convincingly in entirely different conditions from Thailand. Not only were the temperatures substantially less tropical in Termas de Rio Hondo, but the circuit is quite different in nature. In fact, it has a reputation for throwing up surprises. That it did nothing of the sort this year is a troubling thought for anybody who isn’t Marc Marquez.

A 90th grand prix win (all classes) for Marc Marquez also took him to the next rung on the ladder of all-time greats. It equalled the tally of small-capacity legend and countryman Angel Nieto, who died in 2017. Should Marquez add one more win to his tally, he will then become the most successful Spanish rider in history. Ahead of him on the list are Italians Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi, with 122 and 115 wins respectively.

Loser: Francesco Bagnaia

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

If the evidence of the first two MotoGP weekends is anything to go by, that factory Ducati garage isn’t big enough for two superstars. Not that Marc Marquez and ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia have been anything besides civil to each other, but the gulf in performance is beginning to yawn wider.

Until Sunday, the two-time world champion could at least console himself with the fact that he had made the podium in the first two sprints and the first grand prix of the year. But in the Argentina GP, Bagnaia couldn’t even keep his run of third places going. He was passed and beaten, fair and square, by Franco Morbidelli. By the end of the race, he wasn’t even in the same camera shot as the leaders.

Like Alex Marquez, who has annexed second place in every sprint and grand prix so far, Morbidelli is on a year-old GP24 Ducati. While that difference doesn’t carry a lot of weight at this stage of the season, Bagnaia is still meant to be first in line to duke it out with his factory colleague Marc Marquez. But he’s missing his “feeling” on the bike – and right now he can’t even explain why.  

Winner: Franco Morbidelli

Franco Morbidelli, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Media VR46

The third-place finish was a big deal for Morbidelli, a man who suffered some difficult years since finishing second in the world championship aboard a Petronas SRT Yamaha in 2020. This was his first podium since the Spanish Grand Prix in 2021, the year he struggled with a knee injury and first began to lose his way.

“I had time to forget how nice it was,” he reflected afterwards. “I had time to think…that I wasn’t worth it. I had time to think that I wasn’t enough.”

Given his struggles with the factory Yamaha team and then Pramac Ducati during his lean years, Morbidelli’s resurgence may in part be down to a change of environment – he switched to the VR46 team ahead of this season. The results came immediately: ‘Frankie’ was fourth at the opener in Thailand before going one better in Argentina yesterday.

The podium was all the sweeter for the fact that Morbidelli’s gamble of taking a soft rear tyre paid off as he made some key early passes and then held on to his position. The fact that he had been ill for much of the weekend will also add to the sense of achievement.

Loser: Pedro Acosta

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: KTM Images

After such a stellar rookie season aboard an independent KTM, it’s easy to understand why Pedro Acosta is already so despondent, having graduated to the factory squad. Hopes that Acosta could improve substantially on his Thailand outing, where he fell in the GP, failed to materialise in Argentina, where he took ninth and eighth places in the sprint and grand prix respectively. He was accustomed to better than that in 2024.

As always, there was some one-lap pace in the bike and Acosta was able to drag it onto the second row in qualifying. But Acosta paid the price for the KTM’s spinning rear in race conditions and dropped back fast on Saturday, when team-mate Brad Binder complained of the same issue.

Sunday was a little better on the bike front, but Acosta had to deal with a vague arm issue during the race. He had not faced anything similar since his debut last season. He was a wary of calling it arm pump, however, and described it as “not anything important”.

On top of that, Acosta is already having to deal with nosy questions about whether he is trying to get out of his 2026 KTM contract.

Winner: Johann Zarco

Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: LCR Honda MotoGP Team

At 33 this time last year, Zarco looked to have manoeuvred himself into a career dead end. Having moved from Ducati to struggling LCR Honda, it was hard to see light at the end of the tunnel. But fast-forwarding to 2025 changes the picture dramatically.

Zarco was quick from the first practice on Friday in Argentina and sensationally put the satellite Honda RC213V on the front row for the races. Without his poor start in the sprint, the man from Cannes could arguably have gone one better than fourth place behind Francesco Bagnaia. Sixth in the grand prix was also an incredible result by Honda’s recent standards.

Zarco is now the de facto leader of the Honda resurgence and is clearly relishing the role. 

Loser: Yamaha

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Yamaha MotoGP

While Honda appears to have turned the corner and is emerging from the doldrums, the picture is not so clear over at the other major Japanese manufacturer.

Yamaha’s leading factory rider, Fabio Quartararo, said there was “nothing positive we can take from the weekend” in Argentina. He qualified a reasonable seventh but sank fast after a good start in the sprint. On Sunday, he was punted out of contention by Marco Bezzecchi’s first-corner mistake in the grand prix.

Jack Miller, who had been fast in Thailand, did not feature at the front in Argentina, while Alex Rins continued to struggle on the second factory machine.

Miller’s Pramac team-mate Miguel Oliveira ended up on a plane to Portugal and further medical treatment after being taken out by rookie Fermin Aldeguer.

Winner: Alex Marquez

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gresini Racing

In 2025, Alex Marquez looks a different rider from the man who had shown only occasional flashes of brilliance since stepping up to MotoGP as a double world champion in 2020.

As in Thailand, Alex was the only man in the same league as his brother Marc. Once again, he was runner-up in both races. Only this time, despite riding an independent, year-old Ducati, he really pushed the six-time world champion.

Alex Marquez is enjoying his riding like never before this year. And in the highest of complements, Marc declared him his “main opponent” for this year’s world title.

Loser: Aprilia

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: Aprilia Racing

Rio de Termas Hondo is the track that gave Aprilia its first win…and the same goes for its new 2025 rider Marco Bezzecchi. Considering how well Ai Ogura had gone on the Trackhouse entry in Thailand, the portents were good ahead of the Argentina weekend.

But Bezzecchi never quite got it together, qualifying a humble ninth, half a second down on pole man Marc Marquez. The man from Rimini finished the sprint a solid sixth, but Sunday was a disaster as he lost it under braking for the first corner, ruining Quartararo’s race as well as his own.

Ogura needed time to get up to speed on a circuit where he didn’t have the benefit of extensive testing. He raced through from 15th on the grid to deliver an encouraging eighth in the grand prix – only to be stripped of it due to a minor software infringement on his bike.

Aprilia also received news that its world champion recruit Jorge Martin will not return for the next race as hoped. Finally, his replacement Lorenzo Savadori was unable to race in the grand prix after picking up an injury in qualifying.

Photos from Argentina GP – Race