Neil Hodgson hails 'perfect' Alex Marquez as Michael Laverty expects another twist in title race after Grand Prix Catalunya

Marquez was third quickest in qualifying behind Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) and Franco Morbidelli in the VR46 Ducati.

However, the BK8 Gresini had been in consistently impressive form and brought him both wins in the Sprint and full-length race from the 2025 season, and he had been tipped to succeed by Hodgson in his column.

After moving into the lead in the early stages of the shorter race, Marquez then did not give up the lead, and held onto first until he crossed the finishing line, despite a late challenge from a resurgent Acosta.

Third place went to Fabio Di Giannantonio, who made it two spots for Ducati teams on the podium, and he kept his place as the best performing rider for the Italian manufacturer so far this season.

”Respect there to Alex Marquez,” Hodgson said after the race had finished. ”He did everything perfect, defended well. Massive respect to Pedro Acosta. He could not have tried any more. We've seen the amount of time he was losing on long corners. 

”Impressive riding from your top three there. That's a solid, solid race.”

Hodgson’s colleague, Michael Laverty, felt that Marquez was riding "smoother" when he held off Acosta, noting that the Spaniard looked a little ragged in pursuit.

He explained: ”Alex certainly looked smoother. You could see where he was making the lap time, setting the bike on the corner, getting the grip and the acceleration. 

”It just took him out of the danger zone. Pedro was trying everything, pushing on the front end.

”He looked so good. Possibly, over 24 laps, it might be a different story tomorrow. They'll come back fighting tomorrow.”

Aprilia duo Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin scored just a point between them, after the Italian finished in ninth and Martin crashed out with his fourth accident of the weekend so far.

Laverty suggested the disappointment means that Marc Marquez might return to action after surgery with the championship not over yet.

He added: ”So far, a solitary point for the Aprilia team with only Bezzecchi and no score for Jorge Martin - another crash.

”It's just been a weekend to forget at this point. But Jorge Martin is resilient. He'll try to put this behind him and forget and try and work it out in the warm-up and for the feature race tomorrow. 

”You have to say with Acosta and DiGi [Fabio Di Giannantonio] on the podium, a certain Marc Marquez might be not too disappointed sitting at home, seeing a single point to the Aprilia boys. 

”It's a long way to Valencia. There are still a lot of points on the table. We were thinking it's a two-horse race in the championship, but there's another shift to come.”

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