At the end of the opening day of the 2025 MotoGP season, Marc Marquez finds himself second on the timesheets.

Marc Marquez ended the opening day of the Thai Grand Prix in second place on the timesheets. However, 'on paper' across race distance he is the rider to beat.

The Spaniard has picked up where he left off at the end of pre-season testing at the Chang International Circuit. Marquez topped the opening Free Practice One session, but finished second in Friday afternoon Practice.

"I expected to start in a good way, or, I was looking to start in a good way," Marquez said at the end of Day One.

"In fact, from the first run I found the same feeling as I was riding here in the test. That was important.

"It’s true that this afternoon with hotter temperatures it was a bit more tricky, but we understand really quick the way to fix. Good day, solid day, and tomorrow we need to keep going."

'At the moment on paper [I] have the best pace...'

Despite starting the weekend in strong form, Marquez does not believe he will improve his laptime much further. After two days of testing and one day of Practice at the circuit, he believes the riders may have found the limit.

"This weekend, not much, because we ride 200 laps in the test here," Marquez stated.

"So, we start already in the morning and we did 29 low in the first run. It’s not the normal way to work in a weekend because normally you set up a bike and then you improve a lot.

"But here, the margin is small. It’s true that checking the papers, I saw on the lap times and the race pace that Pecco [Bagnaia] is very close to me, which at the moment on paper [I] have the best pace.

"But the most critical point, or the most important point, will be qualifying tomorrow because starting on that front row, maximum second row, will be the target."