On Saturday, Francesco Bagnaia ran out of gas in qualifying. That left him stuck at the back of the grid, and that increases the potential for trouble. On Sunday, trouble arrived in the form of Johann Zarco, who nerfed him off the track, into the gravel and out of the race, ending Bagnaia’s nightmare season.
Marco Bezzecchi’s win in the MotoGP race, coupled with Raul Fernandez’ runner-up finish, was significant for a number of reasons. It marked three Grand Prix wins in four races for riders on Aprilia’s RS-GP racebike. Fernandez and Bezzecchi won in Australia and Portimao, tracks with long, flowing corners that in the past have favored the handling characteristics of the RS-GP. But Fernandez and Bezzecchi also were quick in Valencia, which is tighter and slower. The Aprilia is showing signs of becoming more competitive at a wider range of tracks, and in the hands of multiple riders – Fernandez’ teammate Ai Ogura set the fastest time in Saturday’s practice on the second Trackhouse Racing RS-GP. And Sunday’s podium finish for Fernandez marked the end of a very good weekend for the family, as brother Adrian Fernandez won the Moto3 race.
2024 MotoGP World Champion Jorge Martin returned to action at Valencia, but hadn’t ridden anything but a scooter since his injury in Japan and said he was under strict orders from his doctors not to crash. Martin treated the race weekend like a test session, but was still only 8/10ths slower than winner and teammate Bezzecchi in the race before retiring.
KTM’s factory riders Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder said the RC16 continued to suffer from rear wheel spin at Valencia. It was visibly evident on Acosta’s bike in practice, his RC16 leaving black marks on the pavement through the Turn Nine kink where other machines were hooked up and driving forward. Binder said that all of the machines spun the rear at full lean, but the KTMs kept spinning as the riders picked them up coming out of corners. Acosta held off Fabio Di Giannantonio for much of Sunday’s Grand Prix, but Di Giannantonio passed Acosta with two laps to go to seize his second podium of the weekend.
MotoGP rookie Somkiat Chantra never gelled with his Honda RC213V and scored only seven points the entire season. Miguel Oliveira, a five-time MotoGP winner, missed several rounds due to injuries and when he was on the bike, the bike was a Yamaha YZR-M1, which even in the hands of former World Champion Fabio Quartararo managed only one Grand Prix podium all season. Both Chantra and Oliveira lost their MotoGP rides and in 2026 are heading to World Superbike, and they finished 17th and 11th, respectively, in their last Grand Prix race.
