My job is to study Marc Marquez’s data, this is where he makes the difference

After one season with Gresini, Marc Marquez returned to factory rider status, this time for Lenovo Ducati with Francesco Bagnaia beside him for the 2025 and 2026 season.

Marquez leads the championship after eight rounds in the 2025 season, 32 points ahead of his brother and former team-mate Alex Marquez, and 93 points ahead of Bagnaia.

Known for his corner entrance speed and left-hand corners, Marc Marquez reclaimed his status as the standout rider this season. Talking to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, his crew chief Marco Rigamoni tries to explain where Marquez makes the difference from telemetry and data.

“You can see where he makes the difference, which is at the entrance and especially in the left-hand corners,” Rigamonti said.

“But telling you what he does on the bike to make that difference, it's all so fast, it's hard to see accurately.

“You can more or less see what he does, but explaining to another rider that 'he makes this corner this way, you have to do it like this' is a bit difficult.”

After spending 2024 riding on last-year spec GP23, Marquez had a two-year leap as he became one of three riders that received the factory-spec GP25, alongside his team-mate Pecco Bagnaia and VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio.

Compared to Bagnaia and Diggia, Marquez was able to compensate for the tricky GP25 package. He wasn’t flawless, though. He has two DNFs from COTA and Jerez, and struggled with the front grip during the Silverstone weekend.

Asking if it is possible for another rider to copy what Marquez does on the Ducati, Rigamonti answered: “I think first of all a rider has to understand what he has to do.

“Secondly, a 14-year-old rider can try, a 25-year-old rider has difficulties because they ride very differently.

“Thinking about changing the way you ride is not easy, you can do it but it takes time. In my opinion it takes a long time to change the way you ride, to train yourself to do what another ride does and you have to dedicate time to other training. It can be done, but it takes too long.”

Crew chief spots Marc Marquez weak area

Rigamonti spotted the one area preventing Marquez from becoming the perfect rider.

“That’s a tough one for Marc, as right corners have historically been his Achilles’ heel, especially after a long injury that sidelined him in the 2020 season,” his crew chief said.

“Let's say where he struggles a little more, from the rider’s point of view, is the right turns.

“He said that after the arm injury he’s a little worse at that, it's always been difficult, but now it's a little worse. If he also had the right turns as he had them on the left he would be unbeatable.”

Rigamonti was assigned to Marquez this season, after the rider left Gresini, where Frankie Carchedi was his crew chief.

In 2023 at Honda, he worked with long-time ally Santi Hernandez.

It means Marquez has worked with three crew chiefs in three years, another feather in his cap as he adapted from the Honda to an old Ducati, then to the latest version.

The next MotoGP round is at Mugello, where he will be tested with the multiple right-hand corners.