18/11/2025

Winners and losers from MotoGP’s season-ending Valencia GP

While the 2025 MotoGP season had dragged on for some time, with the championship decided back in September, the Valencia finale still offered plenty of drama, especially in the opening laps.

The race winner was never in doubt, but few could have predicted who would finish second and third on Sunday.

Here are the winners and losers from the MotoGP Valencia GP:

Winner: Aprilia

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: MotoGP

Aprilia ended the 2025 MotoGP season in the best possible manner, with Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez securing a first 1-2 for the Italian marque since 2023.

Aprilia had been the manufacturer to beat in MotoGP in the final stretch of the campaign, but its riders missed too many opportunities along the way. In Indonesia, for instance, the RS-GP had such an edge over the competition that, in a perfect situation, Aprilia would have locked out the entire podium. Instead, sixth was all it came away from the weekend. In the Portuguese GP, Bezzecchi was essentially the last man standing for the factory after Fernandez withdrew from the race following a crash in practice.

However, it all came together for Aprilia in Valencia, as both Bezzecchi and Fernandez delivered on their potential to score a landmark result. Bezzecchi, for his part, made a clear start and managed to avoid the holeshot issue that plagued him in the sprint to score a third win of 2025.

Fernandez, meanwhile, charged his way towards the front in the latter half of the race, overtaking Fabio di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez with ease to grab second. The fact that he was able to close to the rear of Bezzecchi’s factory bike must be a massive confidence boost for the Spaniard, who hadn’t scored a race win (or even a podium finish) until Australia just over a month ago.

The fact that 2024 champion Jorge Martin was able to make a comeback and finish 15 of the 27 laps was an added plus for Aprilia, as it looks ahead to 2025.

Loser: Pedro Acosta

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

While Pedro Acosta had been cautiously optimistic about his victory chances heading into the final two European rounds of the season, there was a clear change in his outlook after his straight defeat to Alex Marquez in Saturday’s sprint. Rather than eyeing a victory in the short term, Acosta suggested that it could take him up to a year before he finally gets to stand on the top step of the podium.

While that projection was influenced by KTM’s trajectory rather than his own form, it’s hard to gloss over the fact that Acosta remains winless after two seasons.

While he genuinely appeared to have a shot at victory in Portugal the previous weekend after leading most of the sprint race until being overtaken by Marquez, he was never really in contention at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Topping Friday practice did raise hope, but in a tightly-packed field, he could only qualify fifth.

A brilliant launch placed him directly behind Marquez in the sprint, but he didn’t have the speed — or the tyre life — to put up a fight to his Gresini rival. On Sunday, he failed to finish on the podium, as both Raul Fernandez and Fabio di Giannantonio sped past him on faster Italian bikes.

Winner: Honda

Luca Marini, Honda HRC

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

There was genuine delight within the Honda camp on Sunday as it finally ‘escaped’ the lowest tier in MotoGP’s concession system and drew level with its European rivals Aprilia and KTM.

While celebrating the loss of a regulatory advantage may seem counterintuitive, it was actually a key target for the Sakura-based manufacturer. Honda, after all, is not a new team aiming to climb up the ladder in MotoGP; it’s a fallen giant striving to reclaim its throne after years of frustration and underperformance. The loss of Group D concessions is a small but important step toward returning to regular victories and title contention.

Honda has worked hard over the year to fix some long-running weaknesses of the RC213V, and it has been so successful that even Joan Mir has been able to rediscover his mojo and finish on the podium in both Japan and Malaysia.

His team-mate Luca Marini also deserves a lot of recognition for his steady performances. While largely overshadowed by Mir in recent races, Marini came through when Honda needed him most, climbing from 13th on the grid to finish seventh and secure the points required for Group C status.

It was also an impressive turnaround for Honda from Saturday after Mir wiped out Marini on the second lap.

Loser: Francesco Bagnaia

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Francesco Bagnaia’s miserable 2025 campaign ended on a bitter note as he was taken out of the race on the opening lap through no fault of his own.

This wasn’t a weekend where Bagnaia lacked pace and trundled at the back of the grid; he was still competitive until misfortune struck. But the fact that he failed to score a single point all weekend and dropped to fifth in the standings means he was one of the big losers in Valencia.

Bagnaia was already on the back foot on Friday as a wrong set-up direction and an oil cooler issue prevented him from making a direct entry into Q2. Things got from bad to worse when Ducati miscalculated the amount of fuel he needed for qualifying, leaving him a distant 16th on the grid for two races.

The sprint came and went without any major drama, but Bagnaia was climbing up the order after a rapid start on Sunday when Johann Zarco rear-ended him at Turn 4, bringing a premature end to his season.

While the two-time MotoGP champion was still refusing to give up hope after the race, his superstitious comments about ‘attracting negativity’ were hardly reassuring heading into the winter break.

Winner: Fabio di Giannatonio

Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Javier Soriano — AFP — Getty Images

Fabio di Giannantonio was the unheralded hero in Valencia, claiming his first double podium (sprint and Sunday race) since Qatar 2023, where he scored his maiden grand prix victory.

Qualifying on the front row for only the third time this season, Di Giannantonio battled Fernandez in the sprint before overtaking him three laps from the finish.

Fernandez proved faster on Sunday, but di Giannantonio made light work of Marquez and came on top in a feisty duel with Acosta to snatch third position. It was only his fourth Sunday podium of the year for the Italian, but in a season of ups and downs, the result was a vital boost for his morale heading into the winter break.

His late-race charge also saved Ducati’s podium streak from ending at 87 races, after Marquez tumbled down the order from second with inexplicable tyre wear and vibration problems.

Finishing the year just 26 points behind fellow GP25 rider Bagnaia shows di Giannantonio’s season was stronger than it appeared.

Loser: Franco Morbidelli

Franco Morbidelli, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: MotoGP

Although Franco Morbidelli has sometimes faced unfair criticism this season based on his reputation rather than his on-track actions, the events of the Valencia GP reflected poorly on him.

Morbidelli was set to start seventh for the finale but lost concentration on the grid, ramming the back of Aleix Espargaro, who had qualified seven places ahead of him.

While we still don’t know what happened from Morbidelli’s perspective, the consequences of the incident were disastrous. The Italian immediately fell to his side after contact, forcing him to take the start from the pitlane.

To make things worse, he was forced to pull into the VR46 garage five laps later to retire due to what was later confirmed to be a fracture on his left hand. An exact timeline for recovery hasn’t been provided, but being declared unfit for Tuesday’s Valencia test is a significant setback that could severely impact his preparations for 2026.