The most atypical pre-season in recent years concluded on Thursday in Thailand, with Marc Marquez revealing his intention to become the top dog in MotoGP again – no matter what the cost.

MotoGP held five days of testing in Malaysia and Thailand in February, giving all five manufacturers a chance to hone their new bikes before the start of the season later this month.

The winter turned out to be a lesson in humility for Ducati, which is set to begin the season in practically the same way as it ended last year: mostly likely winning and with a bike that is nearly identical.

Far from hiding from the situation, those at the helm of the Borgo Panigale marque have recognised the lack of progress, aware that the GP24 it built for last year was the perfect bike. However, this ‘stagnation’ at Ducati has created the perfect situation for the competition to regain ground on it for the first time in years.

Over at Yamaha, a discrete performance in Buriram has raised questions about the extent of improvement seen at Sepang, while also highlighting the upward trend at fellow Japanese manufacturer Honda.

Aprilia ended pre-season in a solid manner, with Marco Bezzecchi looking seemingly natural while taking over the development of the RS-GP in the absence of Jorge Martin.

The big unknown from the test was KTM, with its two MotoGP teams still awaiting the outcome of court proceedings that will determine the future of the Austrian manufacturer.

Although Marc Marquez was always expected to start the year with his battery recharged, especially after securing a factory Ducati contract following years of turmoil at Honda, the spotlight was firmly on him in pre-season testing. This was both due to him leading the timesheets and his natural ability to gather attention, whether in the Sepang test, in Bangkok for the season launch, or the Buriram test.

The winter break has been less spectacular for his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, with mechanical problems preventing him from showing his full potential. It comes after a year in which he was able to win more than half the races, despite finishing runner-up to Martin.

“I left Sepang more relaxed than here [Buriram],” said Marquez. “You have to be strong where your weak points are [Sepang], and not where you know you will be good. The favourite to win here is still Pecco.”

They say that every cloud has a silver lining, and that idiom can probably be applied to Aprilia. The Noale brand started pre-season in the worst possible manner, with Martin getting injured on day one, but it left Thailand in a much better mood thanks to an impressive performance from its other 2025 recruit, Bezzecchi.

Far from being overwhelmed by the additional responsibility, the Italian passed the test with flying colours. This was despite him never having taken on a development role at a manufacturer before.

His maturity, his resolve and his speed, especially in Thailand where he was just two tenths off the best time, made it clear that the new version of the RS-GP is an improvement over the previous bike in almost all aspects.

At the same time, pre-season also confirmed that the rider who won three races on a Ducati in 2023 is back at his very best.

“I am happy with how we have worked and how I have adapted, although I still don’t have everything completely under control. I am very happy with the bike and the engine,” Bezzecchi summed up.

There was a jubilant atmosphere within Yamaha at Sepang, but one could see more happy faces at Honda when testing moved to Thailand.

HRC’s lead rider Joan Mir had already left Malaysia with a smile not seen in years and things only got better for him at Buriram. Honda is finally showing signs of ‘waking up’ and it needs the kind of sharp stiletto that Mir was when he first arrived in MotoGP and won the 2020 championship in only his second season.

The lack of top speed continues to be the weakest point of an RC213V, but the bike is beginning to offer more than just repair work for the mechanics. If his fastest lap placed him eighth, almost nine tenths off Marquez, the sprint simulation that he carried out puts him level with Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha.

If this step is confirmed in 15 days, it would mark a notable rise for Honda. “I’m starting to get back the feeling I haven’t had for a long time with a bike that lets me ride the way I like,” said Mir. “This is the best Honda I’ve ever ridden.”

Concessions are the perfect tool for Yamaha as it continues to undertake profound changes, particularly with the arrival of Pramac as its satellite team. The M1 was clearly rapid at Sepang, but its progress needs to be assessed again until it achieves the same speed in a less favourable setting, especially at tracks with less grip.

These are exactly the kind of circumstances that it faced in Thailand, where the optimism within Yamaha was a little more contained. While Quartararo had to work on a lack of feeling with the front of the bike, the overall improvement was such that Yamaha’s goal of finishing inside the top five no longer seems like a pipe dream. However, it must be said such  a result won’t be possible in the Thai Grand Prix.

Quartararo is still missing something to be able to completely close the gap to the Ducatis over a single lap. Improving that aspect has to be the priority given his sprint simulation pace places him around that much desired top five.

“We have made a small step forward, but these tests were a little more complicated, especially because of those bad sensations in the front end,” said Quartararo. “I didn’t feel good with either of the two compounds, and that had never happened to me before.”

KTM is still waiting for the administrative ruling on the restructuring of the company, scheduled for 25 February. The racing division, especially the MotoGP team, is downplaying the matter and pretending that nothing is happening.

Or, almost. In Buriram, Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder were the only riders on the grid who did not speak to the media, in a move that conveyed anything but tranquility.

On track, it was an up and down test for Acosta, who was fast on a single lap (fourth, two tenths off the leader) but conditioned in his long run by the performance of the tyres. Apart from Acosta, no other KTM rider featured at the front.

Binder did try to emulate the pace of the Spaniard, but Maverick Vinales and, above all, Enea Bastianini, continued to fight with the RC16.

“It is difficult to understand why some tyres go well and others go badly. It becomes a lottery. It is no longer that the tyre goes badly, but that someone gets hurt,” said Acosta.