Marc Marquez lit up his comeback run again in Termas de Rio Hondo as the famous #93 battled his way past younger brother Alex (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP #73) in the closing stages of the Gran Premio YPF Energía de Argentina to remain undefeated. Report: Ed Stratmann/MotoGP
Friday Practice and Saturday Qualifying
MotoGP
The #93 was on top in Termas at the 2025 Gran Premio YPF Energía de Argentina. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) tangoed his way to the summit in Practice as everyone chased the Spaniard’s pace heading into the Tissot Sprint on Saturday.
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A late corker from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team #49) and a consistent Friday from Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) saw the Italian and Spaniard sit as the title leader’s main contenders, as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team #63) narrowly avoided another Q1 showing following a Turn 2 crash in the closing minutes.
Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) then took back-to-back poles for the first time since 2019, with another stunner coming in from the #93 in Argentina. His 1:36.917 was the first ever 1:36 at the venue, a new lap record, and put him a quarter of a second clear at the top.
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), who was close on Friday too was next on list in second, with Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR #5) making some magic in third for Honda’s first front row since 2023 – just 0.042 off the #73 ahead. It was fourth for Pecco who would be looking to make a traditional fast start off the line.
Moto2
World Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP #18) hit the ground running in Termas de Rio Hondo as the Spaniard ended Moto2 Practice at the top of the Triumph-powered timesheets. Gonzalez’s 1:41.713 was 0.160s quicker than Alonso Lopez’s (Team HDR Heidrun #21) best time, but it was the #21’s crash on the exit of Turn 3 that signalled the premature end to Practice with a Red Flag. Just over one minute was left unused on the clock, but Lopez was all OK after the crash. Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team #96) rounded out the top three.
Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing #24) and Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing #7) eased into Q2 after pocketing P4 and P5, with Aron Canet (Fantic Racing #44) in P6.
Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) continued his wonderful start to 2025 as he claimed pole in Argentina, edging out Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing). With some Thai GP frontrunners in Q1 and only some making it through, it was close as ever in the Triumph-powered class. Behind that trio, the second row was an all-Q1 affair: Escrig (#11), Moreira (#10) and Salač (#12).
Moto3
David Almansa (Leopard Racing #22) topped the Moto3™ timesheets on Day 1 at Termas, leading a session for the first time in his career and with a new lap record. His advantage was impressive too, with 0.364 in hand over rookie Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo #83). Carpe already raised eyebrows in Thailand with a maiden podium first time out and at a venue he’d never previously ridden. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo #99) was third fastest as the Thai GP winner proved a key player once again, and was also second fastest in FP1.
Fourth went to home hero Valentino Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3 #73), who impressed to head a tightly packed group of riders where thousandths made the difference. Matteo Bertelle (LEVELUP-MTA #18) was a surprise name in Q1 after Friday in Argentina, but the Italian definitely came out swinging on Saturday. He headed Q1 and then went out in Q2 and did it again, so he’ll head the grid for the second time in two Grands Prix.
FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI pairing Angel Piqueras (36#) and Ryusei Yamanaka (#6) completed the front row. Behind Bertelle, Piqueras and Yamanaka, Almansa headed Row 2, joined by rookie sensation Carpe and points leader Rueda.
Saturday
Tissot Sprint
A second perfect Saturday on the spin came the way of Marc Marquez as the Ducati Lenovo Team star fended off the threat of Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) to win his second Tissot Sprint of the season.
Marc Marquez got another perfect launch from pole and grabbed the holeshot ahead of Alex Marquez, as Bagnaia grabbed an early P3 with Johann Zarco (LCR Honda CASTROL) not getting away well from Row 1 – the Frenchman was P6.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing #33) was a faller on Lap 1 following contact with Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team #21), as the former’s teammate Pedro Acosta climbed up to P4 ahead of the fast starting Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP #20). Meanwhile, the Marquez brothers were pulling the pin at the front.
On Lap 4 of 12, Alex was 0.2s behind Marc, while Pecco was operating 1.3s away from the scrap. The 2022 and 2023 MotoGP World Champion was 0.5s ahead of Acosta, who in turn had Zarco right on his tail.
At the halfway stage, Alex Marquez wasn’t allowing Marc Marquez to escape. Both were setting 1:37.7s, with Bagnaia also in the 1:37s but a couple of tenths slower per lap at this stage. And on the next lap, Bagnaia was back in the 1:38s. The Italian didn’t have any answers to the Marquez duo, so it was a two-horse race for Tissot Sprint victory in Argentina.
With four laps to go, the gap was 0.371s. Was Alex Marquez now struggling to keep tabs on his older brother? It looked like that was the case. The gap grew to 0.475s with three laps left, and then it was 0.721s with two laps to go. The fight was now seemingly over, but Alex Marquez was still close enough to keep his sibling sweating.
Sweat he did, but the six-time MotoGP World Champion made zero mistakes on the last lap to bring his Ducati GP25 home for a third win of the season – his second in a row on a Saturday. Alex Marquez crossed the line 0.903s shy to claim another podium, with Bagnaia forced to settle for P3 – but it’s more important points on the board for the #63.
After a sluggish launch from the grid, Zarco picked his way back up to P4 to finish just 1.1s behind Bagnaia. That was a top Saturday outing for the incredibly impressive LCR Honda star, as Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) rounded out the top five.
“Very difficult victory as Alex was pushing a lot,” stated Marquez. “I just kept pushing and pushing, I think he slowed down a bit towards the end. Tomorrow will be tough.”
Tissot Sprint Race Results
- Marc Marquez Ducati Lenovo
- Alex Marquez BK8 Gresini Ducati (+0.903s)
- Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo (+3.859s)
- Johann Zarco Castrol Honda LCR (+5.026s)
- Fabio Di Giannantonio Pertamina VR46 Ducati (+6.451s)
Sunday
MotoGP
Marc Marquez fended off Alex Marquez to collect the holeshot into Turn 1 as drama unfolded for Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing #72). The Italian, who made contact with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) after struggling to get his RS-GP stopped into Turn 1, crashed at the opening corner. Rider ok, and Quartararo dropped back.
At the front, Johann Zarco (LCR Honda CASTROL) was hounding Bagnaia in third, with Turn 8 a popular passing place for the Frenchman. This squabbling between Pecco and Zarco saw the Marquez brothers skip to a 0.7s lead, with Alex shadowing Marc in the opening three laps.
On Lap 4, there was a change for the lead. Alex Marquez capitalised on a small mistake made by Marc Marquez at Turn 1, as blue led red for the first time in Argentina. Meanwhile, Morbidelli had picked his way past Zarco and Bagnaia to climb into P3.
After a busy opening handful of laps, the Grand Prix settled down a tad as the riders found their early race rhythms.
On Lap 11, it was as you were at the front. Bagnaia was losing ground on the top three and Zarco was still swarming all over the rear end of his GP25. A couple of laps later, Morbidelli began to lose touch with Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez, but crucially, the #21 was still over a second clear of Bagnaia and Zarco.
With 10 to go, Marc Marquez had a bit of a moment coming through the fast Turn 11. It was a warning that cost the six-time MotoGP World Champion a couple of tenths, but a lap later, that deficit had been clawed back. And now, the #93 was properly all over the rear Michelin tyre of Alex Marquez.
Lap 18 of 25 – an attempted pass. Marc Marquez lunged at Turn 5, but couldn’t get his bike hooked up and stopped in time, so Alex Marquez kept the lead with seven laps to go. And having run wide, the margin between the leader and chaser was up to 0.4s.
What a showdown it was. On Lap 19, the brothers exchanged fastest laps of the race, with Marc going slightly quicker to latch himself on the back of Alex. Then, another move. Again it was Turn 5 and this time, it was a pass that stuck. Now it was all about whether Alex Marquez had anything in response.
The early signs were no. With four laps to go, Marc Marquez stretched his advantage to 0.7s. At the beginning of Lap 22 of 25, the gap was then just over a second, as Marc Marquez’s teammate Bagnaia was trying to put a late attack together to steal P3 from Morbidelli.
LAST LAP! Marc Marquez held a 1.5s lead over Alex Marquez, with Bagnaia 0.5s behind Morbidelli. Could the 2022 and 2023 MotoGP World Champion find a way to earn a late podium? No he couldn’t. And Alex Marquez couldn’t do anything about Marc Marquez from clinching another victory in 2025 as the #93 made it four wins from four – two Sprints, two Grands Prix – to begin his factory Ducati career in perfect fashion.
Another brilliant effort from Alex Marquez saw the #73 clinch second again, as Morbidelli clung on to pocket his first MotoGP podium since the 2021 Spanish GP. Bagnaia was breathing down his neck but the latter walked away from Argentina with an underwhelming P4.
“Happy to equal Angel Nieto. He was, and is, super important for the Spanish motorcycle world, and also in the World Championship,” Marquez explained. “From the beginning, the confidence was not super good here. I had a few problems. I saw Alex was pushing and controlling the race and I said ‘second today will be OK’, but in the end I started to feel better and better, less pushing on the front.”
MotoGP Race Results
- Marc Marquez Ducati Lenovo
- Alex Marquez BK8 Gresini Ducati (+1.362s)
- Franco Morbidelli Pertamina VR46 Ducati (+4.695s)
- Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo (+5.536s)
- Fabio Di Giannantonio Pertamina VR46 Ducati (+7.138s)
Check out the full MotoGP race results here…
MotoGP Championship Points
- Marc Marquez Ducati Lenovo – 37
- Alex Marquez BK8 Gresini Ducati – 29
- Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo – 23
- Franco Morbidelli Pertamina VR46 Ducati – 18
- Ai Ogura Trackhouse Aprilia – 17
Moto2
Pure dominance. Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) was in a league of his own at the Gran Premio YPF Energía de Argentina as the British rider won the Moto2 Grand Prix by 3.5s, with Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) picking up a valuable 20 points in P2. Meanwhile, Celestino Vietti (Team HDR Heidrun #13) pocketed his first top three of the season in P3.
Getting the best launch from the front row was Dixon as the Brit stole the holeshot from polesitter Gonzalez. Filip Salač (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) was a keen starter, with the Czech rider slotting into P3 before passing Gonzalez for P2 to make it a Marc VDS 1-2 at the front in the early laps.
Gonzalez got his revenge a couple of laps later though as Dixon began to get the hammer down. On Lap 8 of 21, Dixon’s lead rose above the one second barrier for the first time, and on Lap 12 the gap had climbed to a smidgen over 1.5s.
In the podium fight, Salač’s race ended on Lap 11 at Turn 5 after attempting to pass Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing), with the incident costing the latter time in his attempts to chase third place Vietti and Aron Canet in fourth (Fantic Racing).
As the scrap for the final spot on the rostrum played out, there was nothing anyone could do about stopping Dixon from clinching a phenomenal victory in Argentina. Dixon was in cruise control to take a debut win on board a Boscoscuro, with Gonzalez picking up an important P2, 3.5s behind the race win. Vietti covered off Canet for P3 to bounce back well from his Thailand disappointment, a great ride from ninth on the grid from the Italian.
Canet settled for P4 in the end, vital points for the #44, with Ramirez completing the top five.
Moto2 Race Results
- Jake Dixon Elf Marc VDS Racing
- Manuel Gonzalez Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (+3.525s)
- Celestino Vietti Team HDR Heidrun (+10.098s)
- Aron Canet Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO (+10.508s)
- Marcos Ramirez OnlyFans American Racing Team (+11.009s)
Moto2 Championship Points
- Manuel Gonzalez Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP – 45
- Jake Dixon Elf Marc VDS Racing – 34
- Aron Canet Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO – 33
- Marcos Ramirez OnlyFans American Racing Team – 22
- Senna Agius Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact – 19
Moto3
Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) is a race winner in 2025 after coming out on top in a titanic last lap battle at the Gran Premio YPF Energía de Argentina. The 2024 Rookie of the Year forced his way through on third place finisher Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) at the penultimate corner, with Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing #31) profiting from the late squabbling to earn P2 in Termas.
Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) grabbed the holeshot from the front row, but it was Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who led at the end of the opening lap. David Almansa (Leopard Racing) also took a turn leading in the early exchanges, as a lead group of 11 formed at the front, with the chasing pack just around a second further down the road.
With two to go, Matteo Bertelle (LEVELUP MTA Team) was 0.4s clear at the front and on the last lap, he had edged it up to 0.5s. Could Piqueras and Rueda do anything about it? The advantage had disappeared halfway around the last lap as Piqueras made his move at Turn 7. Rueda followed his compatriot through at Turn 9 and then on the exit of Turn 11, Piqueras was wide and on the green.
That cost the #36 the place to Rueda, but a lunge at Turn 12 followed. Piqueras carved past Rueda, and Fernandez managed to pick off the Thai GP race winner too to shadow Piqueras over the line as the latter clinched his first win of the season. Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia #72) bagged P4 ahead of Bertelle, but that result was flipped after Furusato exceeded track limits on the final lap.
Moto3 Race Results
- Angel Piqueras FRINSA – MT Helmets
- Adrian Fernandez Leopard Racing (+0.036s)
- Jose Antonio Rueda Red Bull KTM Ajo (+0.125s)
- Matteo Bertelle LEVELUP – MTA (+0.373s)
- Taiyo Furusato Honda Team Asia (+0.473s)
Moto3 Championship Points
- Jose Antonio Rueda Red Bull KTM Ajo – 41
- Adrian Fernandez Leopard Racing – 36
- Angel Piqueras FRINSA – MT Helmets – 29
- Matteo Bertelle LEVELUP – MTA – 24
- Alvaro Carpe Red Bull KTM Ajo – 20
How Did the Aussies Do?
After securing 11th in the Sprint, Jack Miller (#43) got a poor start in the Sunday bout, thus seeing him slip back to 16th before eventually logging 13th, 23.486s behind the imperious Marc Marquez.
Despite 13th not being the result Senna Agius (#81) was hoping for after his awesome third in Thailand, this was still a decent outcome for the gifted Aussie.
Even though Joel Kelso was (#66) left somewhat disappointed with his eighth in Argentina, there were many positives, which included him making 13 passes, to be extracted from his riding, especially considering he had to serve a double Long Lap Penalty.
