APRILIA FINISHES 2025 SEASON WITH DOMINANT 1–2 IN VALENCIA
Aprilia finished the 2025 MotoGP season in the best way possible. Marco Bezzecchi won the Valencia Grand Prix from start to finish, giving Aprilia its first back-to-back wins and its first 1–2 result since 2023. Raul Fernandez pushed hard and finished just 0.6 seconds behind Bezzecchi. Fabio Di Giannantonio took third place after passing Pedro Acosta, which kept Ducati’s streak of 88 straight podiums alive going into 2026.
Before the race even began, there was a strange incident. As the riders stopped on the grid, Franco Morbidelli hit the back of Aleix Espargaro’s bike. He went back to the pits but then parked his bike and ended his season early. Later, it was confirmed he had a broken left hand, so he will miss Tuesday’s Valencia Test as well.
When the lights finally went out, Bezzecchi made the start he wanted and kept the lead ahead of Alex Marquez. In the middle of the pack at Turn 4, Johann Zarco came in too fast. Francesco Bagnaia was in the wrong place and was pushed into the gravel, then fell. His race and season ended there. Zarco received a Long Lap Penalty for causing the crash.
Up front, Fernandez was moving forward quickly. After passing Di Giannantonio, he started closing in on Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez, setting several fastest laps. Acosta also passed Di Giannantonio and began chasing the top three.
By Lap 10, the front three were more than two seconds ahead of Acosta. At the end of Lap 11, Fernandez overtook Alex Marquez at the final corner. Bezzecchi had about a 1.3-second lead, and Fernandez immediately pulled away from Marquez. Acosta and Di Giannantonio soon caught the slowing Marquez.
With 11 laps to go, Acosta closed in, and Fernandez slowly reduced Bezzecchi’s lead to around 0.8 seconds. On Lap 20, Acosta finally passed Marquez at Turn 4. One lap later, Di Giannantonio made the same move to take fourth place.
Bezzecchi’s lead stayed just above half a second with five laps left, but Fernandez kept attacking. Di Giannantonio was the fastest rider on track at that moment and was pressuring Acosta for third.
With two laps to go, both battles were tight: Bezzecchi vs. Fernandez for the win, and Acosta vs. Di Giannantonio for third. At Turn 4, Di Giannantonio passed Acosta. The KTM rider tried to fight back, but the Italian held firm.
On the last lap, Bezzecchi kept a small but safe gap and crossed the line 0.3 seconds ahead of Fernandez. Di Giannantonio kept Acosta behind and secured third place, ending his season with two podium finishes in Valencia.
Acosta finished fourth in both the race and the championship. Fermin Aldeguer took fifth after passing Alex Marquez at the final corner. Marquez finished sixth, a disappointing end to his weekend.
Luca Marini finished seventh for Honda, helping the team reach concession Rank C after a year of improvement. Brad Binder was eighth, Jack Miller ninth, and Enea Bastianini tenth.
Miguel Oliveira ended his MotoGP career with an eleventh-place finish before moving to WorldSBK in 2026. Zarco finished twelfth after his penalty, ahead of Joan Mir, who also had a Long Lap Penalty. Alex Rins and Nicolo Bulega took the last points in 14th and 15th.
With that, the 2025 season is complete. Bezzecchi and Aprilia end the year strong and finish inside the top three in the championship. Testing for 2026 begins on Tuesday in Valencia.
Ducati still finished as the top manufacturer thanks to Marc and Alex Marquez finishing 1–2 in the championship, but Aprilia has shown that they are ready to challenge seriously next year.
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