2025 Valencia MotoGP Practice Results – Friday
November 14, 2025
Marc Marquez held off a stunning late-race charge from rookie sensation Fermin Aldeguer to secure his long-elusive first Austrian MotoGP victory, marking his sixth consecutive win of the 2025 season.
Against the scenic Styrian backdrop, race day at the Red Bull Ring delivered one of the year’s most fiercely contested Grands Prix, shaped by changing tyre strategies, team orders and dramatic recoveries.
Qualifying set the stage for a tight contest with Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi seizing pole in commanding style, followed by Alex Marquez and three-time Red Bull Ring winner Pecco Bagnaia.
Marc Marquez started from the second row in the thick of the action but seemed poised for a strategic battle, his experience and form in 2025 making him a menace despite his grid position.
As the lights dimmed on Sunday’s main event, Bezzecchi made the best getaway to snatch the holeshot, with Bagnaia executing a much-improved launch to slot into second and Marquez immediately attacking from behind.
The opening laps were tense and peppered with high-stakes maneuvers as Marc Marquez tried twice at Turn 3 to edge past his teammate and eventual title rival Bagnaia.
The third attempt stuck and Marquez seized second place setting up a tense early duel between him and Bezzecchi who exhibited extraordinary pace in the early running, laying down a series of fastest laps including a blistering 1:29.533 on lap 4.
Marquez bid his time as he stalked Bezzecchi, the two edging clear of the field in what looked to be an exclusive duel for victory.
Meanwhile Bagnaia bravely defended third from a fast-starting Pedro Acosta who was in turn fending off Enea Bastianini and rookie Fermin Aldeguer.
Just as Bezzecchi seemed to swell his lead to almost a second, Marquez recalibrated his approach by carefully managing tyre temperatures which paid off as he began cutting Bezzecchi’s advantage lap by lap.
By lap 18 of 28 the Spaniard had reeled in the Italian with the battle for third providing its own fireworks: Acosta made a bold move at the penultimate corner to overtake Bagnaia only for Aldeguer to opportunistically follow through demoting Bagnaia to fifth in a flash.
With ten laps remaining Marquez seized the initiative at Turn 3 only for Bezzecchi to forcefully retake the lead at Turn 6.
The very next lap Marquez put his signature on the race and took the inside at Turn 1, ultimately breaking Bezzecchi’s resistance in the psychological war.
Meanwhile, Aldeguer’s progress was another level as he began to lap over half a second faster than the leaders. He disposed of Acosta and Bagnaia through a series of bold overtakes, and finally powered past Bezzecchi with five laps remaining.
With only Marquez ahead, the BK8 Gresini rookie set his sights on a stunning late challenge. On lap 22 Aldeguer was just 1.7 seconds off Marquez and reduced that to 1.1 seconds by the next lap with a lightning 1:30.120.
Marc Marquez sensed the growing threat and steadied the ship with two laps to go, growing his lead from 0.7 seconds to 0.9. However, Fermin Aldeguer had pushed his tires to the limit and just ran out of laps to launch a last-minute attack.
Marquez ultimately took the checkered flag to claim a landmark Austrian MotoGP victory with a margin of just over one second as the series marked its 1000th race.
Full 2025 Austrian MotoGP Race Results
2025 MotoGP Championship Standings after Austrian GP
Meanwhile, Marco Bezzecchi crossed the line in third to mark first back-to-back podiums for Aprilia since 2023.
Pedro Acosta once again led the KTM charge in fourth ahead of Tech3’s Enea Bastianini as the Austrian manufacturer enjoyed a solid home race with two bikes in the top five.
Joan Mir was the leading Honda in an impressive sixth followed Brad Binder who made it three KTMs in the top ten.
Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia’s weekend ended in frustration after struggling with tyre drop-off and was ultimately ordered by FIM Stewards to drop a position due to aggressive defending, fading to eighth.
Raul Fernandez finished ninth for Trackhouse Aprilia just beating Alex Marquez who fought back through the field after serving a long lap penalty carried over from Brno, to finish tenth.
Franco Morbidelli pocketed eleventh place for Pertamina VR46 Ducati, edging ahead of Johann Zarco, Luca Marini, rookie Ai Ogura, and Fabio Quartararo, who salvaged the final points for Yamaha in a weekend to forget for the Japanese marque.
Two riders failed to finish: Fabio di Giannantonio suffered a dramatic engine failure, while Jorge Martin suffered a heavy fall at Turn 7 but was essentially unharmed.
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