Marco Bezzecchi emerged victorious on Sunday (16th) at the Valencian Community Grand Prix, the final round of the 2025 MotoGP season, held at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain. The Aprilia rider started from pole position and maintained his lead throughout the 27 laps, despite being heavily pressured by his opponents.
Raúl Fernández, riding an Aprilia for Trackhouse, secured second place after pressuring Bezzecchi in the final laps. Fabio Di Giannantonio, on a Ducati from VR46, completed the podium with a third-place finish, followed by Pedro Acosta in fourth on a KTM. The top-five group was rounded out by Fermín Aldeguer on a Ducati from Gresini.
Álex Márquez, on the other Gresini Ducati, finished sixth after the 27 laps, followed by Luca Marini in seventh on a Honda. Brad Binder, riding a KTM, crossed the finish line in eighth, while Jack Miller, on a Pramac Yamaha, took ninth. Enea Bastianini, a KTM Tech3 rider, closed out the top ten.
The 2026 MotoGP season will kick off on March 1st with the Thai Grand Prix in Buriram.
Check out how the race unfolded
Prior to the start, Franco Morbidelli fell off his bike while lining up. When the lights went out, Marco Bezzecchi maintained his lead, followed by Álex Márquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Raúl Fernández, and Pedro Acosta. In the intermediate pack, Francesco Bagnaia crashed his Ducati after running off the track and losing his balance on the gravel.
Morbidelli headed to the pits during the first lap, while Johann Zarco was penalized with a long lap after the incident that took Bagnaia out of the race. On the fourth lap, Fernández overtook Di Giannantonio, taking third place. The Italian from VR46 was also passed by Acosta in the same lap, dropping to fifth.
Bezzecchi was still leading the race on the fifth lap, being pressured by Márquez and Fernández, who was the fastest rider on the track at that point. Two laps later, Ai Ogura crashed, abandoning the race. Acosta, in fourth, was unable to keep up with the pace of the leaders and was 2.5 seconds behind the front group.
In the intermediate pack, Jack Miller moved up to sixth place on the 11th lap, battling with Fermín Aldeguer and Luca Marini. At the front, Bezzecchi started to pull away from Márquez, who was under pressure from Fernández, who managed to overtake him on lap 12. Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo struggled with his Yamaha, dropping from sixth on the grid to 12th on lap 14.
Joan Mir, who served a long lap penalty during the race, began to attack Enea Bastianini for tenth place. With 16 laps completed, Jorge Martin abandoned the race. In the front group, Fernández started to close in on Bezzecchi for the lead. Acosta, in fifth, began to attack Márquez on lap 18 but was initially unable to overtake.
Two laps later, Acosta finally managed to overtake Márquez, taking third place. The Gresini rider was also passed by Di Giannantonio on the following lap, dropping to fifth. Further back, Miller passed Marini to take seventh, but the Italian regained the position shortly after.
The race entered its final five laps with Di Giannantonio pressuring Acosta for third place. Maverick Viñales, meanwhile, abandoned the race due to bike issues, while Fabio Quartararo crashed, also leaving the race. Di Giannantonio made the move on the penultimate lap.
At the front, Bezzecchi saw Fernández getting closer and closer, but he managed to fend off the attacks. In the end, Bezzecchi took the win, followed by Fernández and Di Giannantonio. There was still time for Aldeguer to overtake Márquez, finishing fifth.
