The 2025 MotoGP season was unlike anything we’ve seen this decade, with Marc Marquez dismantling the field on the factory Ducati and turning the championship into a one-man show. Only two riders were able to challenge him on a handful of occasions, and even then, toppling the Spaniard proved a near-impossible task.
Marquez’s late, injury-enforced absence did briefly level the playing field, opening the door for two new winners to break through at the very end of the campaign.
Beyond the headline-grabbers, several riders who never made it to the top step of the podium still maximised their machinery and circumstances to deliver quietly outstanding seasons.
Marini was the most consistent Honda rider, but lacked the peaks of Zarco and Mir
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Team: Honda
Championship: 13th
Points: 142
Best GP result: 5th
Best sprint result: 4th
Luca Marini wasn’t Honda’s highest points-scorer in 2025, nor did he collect any silverware. But he was precisely the kind of rider the factory needed during its rebuilding year: fast, reliable and technically astute.
Barring his mechanical-induced retirement at the Japanese GP, Marini finished every single grand prix in the points this year – and more often than not, inside the top 10. While Joan Mir and Johann Zarco were among the grid’s most frequent visitors to the gravel trap, Marini kept it upright for nearly the entire season, avoiding any incidents until the 20th round in Malaysia.
If his early-season momentum wasn’t halted by a fall during Suzuka 8 Hours testing, which forced him to miss three races due to a hip injury, he could well have ended the year inside the top 10 in the standings.
His biggest single contribution came at the final race in Valencia, where he excelled under pressure to finish seventh (after starting 13th) and help Honda move to Group C in the concession ladder.
It was feast or famine for Bagnaia in 2025
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Team: Ducati
Championship: Fifth
Points: 288
GP Wins: 2
Sprint wins: 2
In some ways, it feels almost unfair to put Francesco Bagnaia ninth on the list. After all, he won two grands prix and stood on the podium in more than a third of the races. He certainly seemed destined for a higher ranking midway through the season, but by the year’s end, the narrative had twisted sharply. Whether you look at his year in isolation, or against the benchmark set by his team-mate Marc Marquez, his 2025 campaign was nothing short of a disaster.
All Bagnaia needed to do was the same steady consistency that made him a two-time MotoGP champion and one of the most successful riders of the current decade. But the way he went from qualifying on pole one weekend to propping up the field the next was not only shocking, but also damaging to the reputation that he had built over the years. What made things worse was his late-season slump, as this was the critical point where Ducati needed him to pick up the baton and lead the team in Marquez’s absence.
Still, on the rare occasions when everything clicked, Bagnaia reminded the paddock of his peak level – and few riders on the grid can dominate with the same brutal authority as he can.
8. Raul Fernandez (New entry)
Fernandez produced a stellar end of season run, highlighted by a maiden victory in Australia and fighting for a second win in Valencia
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Team: Trackhouse
Championship: 10th
Points: 172
GP wins: 1
Best sprint result: 2nd
Raul Fernandez didn’t just turn around his 2025 campaign with his late-season performances, he revitalised his entire MotoGP career. Over the final six weekends, the Trackhouse rider racked up 88 points, eclipsing the 82 he had managed across the first 16 rounds.
Arguably even more impressive than his maiden win in the Australian Grand Prix was his performance in Valencia, where he pushed an in-form Marco Bezzecchi all the way to the chequered flag. If the paddock consensus was that Bezzecchi was the fastest rider in the latter part of the year, then Fernandez did his reputation no harm by taking the fight to the factory Aprilia star.
The Spaniard has endured a lot in his first four years in MotoGP. A Tech3 KTM seat he didn’t even want, RNF’s collapse and takeover by Trackhouse, a mid-season bike upgrade that backfired in 2024 and constant questions about his future. Even this year, he had to part ways with his long-time agent Jordi Arilla. But with that turbulence finally behind him, he heads into 2026 as one of Aprilia’s most potent weapons.
An under-the-radar season, but Di Giannantonio showed his value to VR46 and Ducati
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Team: VR46
Championship: 6th
Points: 262
GP podiums: 4
Sprint podiums: 5
Armed with a factory-spec bike for the first time, Fabio Di Giannantonio delivered the most successful season of his MotoGP career in 2025 – even if some of his best performances slipped under the radar.
This was by no means a flawless year for ‘Diggia’, as he battled several of the same issues on the GP25 that derailed Francesco Bagnaia’s campaign. There were also weekends where team-mate Franco Morbidelli clearly had the upper hand on the older-spec Ducati. But overall, Di Giannantonio met expectations at VR46 and Ducati, establishing himself as a credible midfield force capable of mixing it with the frontrunners when conditions allowed.
His preparations for the year were severely compromised by a collarbone injury he suffered while performing a wheelie during Sepang testing. Having also missed a chance to try the GP25 in the Valencia test the previous winter, this was a big blow. Yet he adapted quickly, taking his first podium of the year by round three in Austin.
The Italian also deserves extra credit for keeping Ducati’s podium streak alive, charging to third in the Valencia finale at a time when every other Desmosedici rider struggled for pace.
A win in his rookie season capped a fine campaign for Aldeguer
Photo by: Robertus Pudyanto / Getty Images
Team: Gresini
Championship: 8th
Points: 214
Wins: 1
Sprint podiums: 3
Fermin Aldeguer vindicated Ducati’s decision to hand him an early contract with a brilliant first season in MotoGP in which he earned the Rookie of the Year award. Only 19 years old at the start of the season, Aldeguer took his time to get up to speed on Gresini’s GP24, but from Austin onwards it became clear that he has a bright future.
His late-race charge at the Red Bull Ring was one of the standout moments of his campaign, evoking memories of Enea Bastianini’s finest rides at Ducati. The victory in Indonesia was also significant, not only because it came in his rookie season, but because he applied the lessons from his sprint defeat the day before.
Still, Aldeguer has a long way to go before he can truly become a contender for a factory seat at Ducati. Some inconsistency was expected from a rider of his age, but his qualifying form was a persistent weakness, often leaving him with too much ground to make up on Sundays. His true test will come in 2026, when he faces a more confident Alex Marquez on the factory GP26 next year.
Quartararo outperformed his machinery this year
Photo by: Yamaha MotoGP
Team: Yamaha
Championship: 9th
Points: 201
GP Podiums: 1
Sprint podiums: 2
Fabio Quartararo may have given himself a 5/10 for the season as his frustration with Yamaha grew, but in doing so he overlooked one crucial fact: he nearly doubled his points tally from 2024.
Yes, a faster M1, a more compact field and fewer Ducatis made life slightly easier, but it was still Quartararo’s talent that made the real difference. After all, he outscored all other Yamaha riders combined – a reminder of just how far he continues to stretch the bike’s potential. His three-race pole streak in the summer was exceptional, and dragging the underpowered M1 to 10 front-row starts (including five poles overall) bordered on miraculous.
That Quartararo was denied a first victory since 2022 at Silverstone due to a ride-height device failure was cruel and heartbreaking in equal measure, especially given that he had executed the perfect British Grand Prix up to that point.
That said, the Frenchman did have difficult patches in 2025, with team-mate Alex Rins occasionally looking the stronger of the two when he briefly rediscovered his form during the flyaway races.
Acosta took a step forward in 2025, but that first victory still alludes him
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Team: KTM
Championship: 4th
Points: 307
GP podiums: 5
Sprint podiums: 7
Amid KTM’s financial issues early in the year and Pedro Acosta’s own attempt to extricate himself from his contract and join VR46, the Spaniard emerged from the chaos as a more mature figure both on and off the track.
Gone was the rider who crashed out or made costly errors in the decisive stages of a race. Acosta retained the raw speed that defined his rookie campaign, but now he knew how to channel that aggression and convert it into major results under pressure. A mid-season update to the RC16 completely transformed his fortunes, turning Acosta into one of the most consistent performers on the grid. In the second half of the season, the 21-year-old was on the podium virtually every weekend. This newfound maturity also came through in his demeanour and media appearances. After declaring last year that he would rather crash than concede to the Ducatis in 2024, he now prioritises finishing in the top five, signalling that he has truly come of age.
That said, a lack of race victories will continue to haunt him in the winter and give his naysayers further ammunition heading into 2026.
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Up 7)
Bezzecchi was Aprilia’s leading light and takes momentum into this winter thanks to wins in Portugal and Valencia
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Team: Aprilia
Championship: 3rd
Points: 353
GP wins: 3
Sprint wins: 3
Marco Bezzecchi was the only non-Ducati rider to give Marc Marquez a run for his money this year. The Indonesia collision triggered by Bezzecchi was unfortunate not only because it left Marquez with a serious injury, but also because it robbed MotoGP of more epic duels between the pair.
The Aprilia RS-GP grew stronger as the year went on, and back-to-back victories in Portugal and Valencia marked a fitting conclusion to Bezzecchi’s first season at Noale. But arguably, his second-place finish behind Marquez at Misano was just as impressive, as he held his own against the faster Ducati.
Given how many critics questioned Aprilia’s decision to hire him after a difficult 2024, Bezzecchi has done exceptionally well to turn the narrative around. He had already shown flashes of brilliance during his standout 2023 season with VR46 on a satellite bike, but he has now demonstrated that he is ready to fight for a championship with a factory squad.
But the 27-year-old needs to iron out some weak points, not least the over-aggression that cost him dearly at the start of the Argentine GP and again in Indonesia.
2. Alex Marquez (Re-entry)
Alex Marquez helped seal a brothers 1-2 in the standings, proving himself to be the best of the rest in 2025
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Team: Gresini
Championship: 2nd
Points: 467
GP wins: 3
Sprint wins: 3
Alex Marquez had been quietly rebuilding his career at Gresini between 2023 and 2024 after two bruising years at LCR Honda, but nobody could have predicted the size of the leap he would make after signing a new two-year deal with the Italian squad.
In some ways, the younger Marquez’s season echoed Jorge Martín’s title-winning 2024 campaign, defined more by consistency than outright pace. The crucial difference, aside from machinery and team, was that Alex had to contend with a far tougher benchmark in the form of his own brother, Marc.
What immediately stood out was how comfortable Alex looked on the GP24 from the very first laps of the Valencia test. That confidence carried straight into the season, culminating in his maiden grand prix victory at Jerez. The timing of his hand fracture was unfortunate, and it took him a while to rediscover his early form. But once he was back in the game, he was truly a force to be reckoned with. His ability to withstand race-long pressure from Marc on the factory Ducati and still prevail in Barcelona said everything about his mental strength and speed.
If Bagnaia endures another difficult season in 2026, Ducati may already have the ideal replacement waiting in the wings.
1. Marc Marquez (Up 1)
Marc Marquez returned to the top in MotoGP for the first time since 2019
Photo by: Ducati Corse
Team: Ducati
Championship: 1st
Points: 545
GP wins: 11
Sprint wins: 14
Marc Marquez’s 2025 campaign was one for the ages. It’s difficult for a rider as successful as Marquez to surpass the lofty expectations placed upon him, yet that’s exactly what he managed to do as he dominated MotoGP like no one had since… well, himself, six years ago.
It wasn’t exactly a flawless year for Marquez and he let at least two grands prix wins slip through his fingers earlier this season. But he learned from his mistakes and took full advantage of the in-season Aragon test to truly gel with the GP25 and settle into an incredible winning rhythm. By the time things unravelled for him again in Indonesia, the title was already done and dusted.
This was a story of redemption, resilience and determination. Marquez carried plenty of self-doubt when he gambled on himself and moved to Gresini Ducati in 2024, but in hindsight it’s remarkable how everything fell into place. Each result set off the next like a chain of perfectly aligned dominoes: three wins on a satellite bike, a factory contract and then the championship in his first year in ‘red’. The Spaniard now seems like a genius both on and off the track, and it’s hard to dispute his status as the greatest of all time.
Is Marc Marquez now MotoGP’s GOAT?
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