Marc Marquez reignites Ducati MotoGP bike spec debate after Aragon sprint dominance

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez insists he is on “exactly the same bike” as those on the GP24, despite being the only factory Ducati rider in the top five in the Aragon sprint.

Marc Marquez converted pole to a seventh sprint victory of the 2025 campaign, as he beat Gresini’s Alex Marquez by 2.080 seconds.

He was forced to recover from a poor launch, but took the lead on lap six of 11 and quickly pulled into the distance to extend his championship lead to 27 points going into Sunday’s grand prix.

Marc Marquez was the only factory-spec Ducati inside the top five in the sprint, with Fabio Di Giannantonio 6.379s back in sixth, and Pecco Bagnaia out of the points in 12th after a torrid race.

Ducati has already confirmed that the factory bikes are running slightly different engines to the full GP24s, while it is understood other parts - such as the rear ride height device - are small upgrades on last year’s machine.

But when asked why only he of the factory Ducati runners was in the top five, Marquez insists he doesn’t know because he has been told he is on the same bike as Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer behind him on the podium.

“I ask many times to the engineers and always they say the same: I’m riding exactly with the same bike as Alex, Fermin and [Franco] Morbidelli,” he said.

“I don’t know why, but we have exactly the same bike.

“It’s true that in Le Mans and Silverstone I was riding with a different ‘spec’, but here I come back because I want the same as the others, then in the Monday test we will have time to try.

“A few things [were different].”

‘Everything under control’ for Marc Marquez in Aragon sprint

Though dropping briefly to fourth off the line due to wheelspin - which he says Ducati knows how to fix for Sunday - Marquez felt everything “was under control” in the sprint.

He admits he had “some locking” when he lunged on Alex Marquez for the lead at Turn 1 on lap six of 11, but says this is the only way to overtake a rider as fast as his younger brother was going.

“It’s true that on the qualy lap I took too much risk and I was slower, because I was exaggerating and I was trying to be faster than what the tyres and the bike allowed,” he explained.

“And then you are against the bike and you start to slide and shake everywhere. It was not the best lap, honestly speaking, but enough to be on pole position.

“Then in the sprint race it was all under control. I feel the bike all the time.

“It’s true the overtake with Alex at that moment there was some locking on the front, but it’s the only way to overtake a fast rider like Alex who is also braking super hard.

“The problems started on the start, the rear tyre spun and I lost a lot of positions. But I was calm, I controlled the race and we take those 12 points.”

Marquez and Pedro Acosta made contact on the run to Turn 1 at the start of the sprint, though the former called this a “racing incident” and a consequence of losing speed off the line due to wheelspin.

“I was a bit behind, and then I tried to brake hard, especially because you need to brake hard because if not the front device and the rear device don’t go to the correct positions,” he added.

“But this kind of race incident happen always in the same pattern: when somebody has a problem at the start and others arrive with another speed, the difference of speed makes these kinds of incidents, especially at Turn 1 at Aragon which is one of the trickiest points.”