Neil Morrison’s awards for the best, worst and wackiest moments of a season where a Marquez masterclass masked Ducati’s cracks
He may have missed its conclusion but 2025 was all about one man. And more specifically that man’s return. Marc Marquez capped quite possibly the greatest comeback in the sport’s history by claiming a ninth world title, making child’s play of the competition in the process.
At one point this was going to be one of the most dominant campaigns in history. Now in factory Ducati red, the 32-year-old won 14 of the year’s first 15 Sprints (he finished second in the other), finished on the podium in the first 17 Sunday races of the year bar two, and amassed 11 Sunday successes for the third time in his career. In truth, the title was done and dusted as early as June.
Also in truth, Marc’s genius papered over Ducati’s cracks. The struggles of Pecco Bagnaia (just seven podiums, two wins) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (four podiums, no wins), the other Ducati riders aboard GP25s, showed engineers had taken a wrong turn with this year’s bike. The fact that Alex Marquez was the closest challenger all year long on the year-old version underlined that the GP24 remained the class benchmark.
From a rather predictable and at times monotonous run to his coronation in Japan, MotoGP entered into a weird and wacky phase once Marco Bezzecchi took the champion out in Indonesia, injuring his shoulder so badly he missed the final four rounds.
In Marquez’s absence, there were four different winners in the final five races, with Fermin Aldeguer and Raul Fernandez taking unlikely first-time wins in Indonesia and Australia respectively.
That late period, plus the progress of three of MotoGP’s other factories, pointed to a brighter future ahead. With Marc injured, Ducati’s six-rider fleet appeared vulnerable. And there was genuine reason to think Aprilia’s RS-GP had surpassed the Desmosedici late in the year as Bezzecchi and Fernandez’s performances showed.
Another light came in the form of Pedro Acosta’s midseason turnaround. MotoGP’s next superstar in waiting sought to show he’d be anywhere other than KTM in the season’s opening months as he continued to crash and make mistakes. But an aero update midseason turned his fortunes around. From there, a less impulsive, more mature figure took hold to claim 12 podiums (Sprints included) in the season’s second half.
Some of Acosta’s riding in the season’s final months verged on the jaw-dropping.
Similar things could be said of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo. Each and every one of his five pole positions was achieved in breathtaking style. One can only hope KTM and Yamaha provide both riders with the tools their respective talents so clearly deserve in 2026.
In terms of close racing, 2025 won’t go down as a vintage. Bezzecchi pushed Marc hard at both Assen and Misano. Indonesia’s fight for second was memorable. And the Sprints in Germany, Indonesia and Portugal went down to the final lap. Otherwise, it was rare to see a group fighting at the front. 2027, with its reduced aerodynamics, move to Pirelli tyres and away from Michelin’s badly outdated front, plus bans on ride-height and start devices, can’t come soon enough. The show demands it.
THE MOTOGP 2025 AWARDS
‘Rider of the Year’
Marc Marquez. Could it really be anyone else? Aside from racking up 11 Sunday wins, 14 Sprints and a record 545 points in 18 weekends, it was the manner in which he did it. For long stretches of 2025 his superiority over the rest verged on the embarrassing with wins at Sachsenring, Brno, Red Bull Ring, Balaton Park and Misano all achieved when nowhere close to his limit. And all mustered from a place so bleak even the most battle-hardened riders would have waved the white flag. Even if injury keeps him out of preseason, it’s hard to see anyone laying a glove on him in ’26.
‘Race of the Year’
The British GP. Let’s be frank, there aren’t a tonne of options here. As already stated, racing in 2025 wasn’t at vintage levels. But the cool, blustery ex-airfield setting an hour north of London offered up some respite from the usual Ducati domination. Cold temperatures meant no red bike could use Michelin’s soft front tyre, causing Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia to run off track at will. There was drama (and heartbreak) as a guaranteed Quartararo win slipped away when his ride-height device failed. And Bezzecchi took the most unlikely of victories from 10th on the grid – two weeks on from his teammate making clear his desire to leave Aprilia.
‘Flex of the Year’
Marc Marquez, COTA. Only one rider in MotoGP would have the nerve to run off the grid to swap bikes (and tyres) two minutes before the race started on a wet but drying track, instigating carnage and necessitating a restart procedure. It later transpired that not even Marc knew the rules. But his bare-faced admission afterwards that he did it to force a stoppage was his ego pumped up on steroids. This was a literal showing of how everyone was following his lead. When it comes to manipulating a situation for his own end, the Catalan has no equals.
‘Tearjerker of the Year’
Johann Zarco at Le Mans. On paper, there wasn’t a great deal to set the heart racing as the home hero’s tyre gamble resulted in him nursing a 10sec advantage over Marquez with 15 laps to play. But the sense of jeopardy was never far away. Surely Zarco, with one MotoGP win in 149 previous appearances, couldn’t handle the pressure? Yet the fact he did, and the 120,000 fans celebrating a first home success at premier class level since 1954, as well as his own parents bursting into spontaneous tears was a reminder of what sport’s all about. A moment that will be talked about in France for decades to come.
‘Did that really happen?’ award
Pecco Bagnaia in Indonesia. The triple champ’s trials and tribulations were one of 2025’s major storylines. But never did they appear as preposterous as those 10 days spanning races at Motegi and Mandalika. Returning to the bones of his beloved GP24, he dominated the opposition in Japan. But a stiffer Michelin rear tyre construction threw him off course in a way few could have expected just five days later. He was a baffling three seconds slower per lap in the Sprint. And he crashed out of Sunday when chasing down perennial backmarker Somkiat Chantra. From glory to meltdown in five baffling days.
‘You have my grudging respect’ award for taking it on the chin
Jorge Martin’s press conference, Thursday at Brno. Sympathy was hard to come by for the reigning champ as he sought a move away from Aprilia when he had yet to complete a full race weekend for the brand. Yet rather than try to hide from his actions, Martin fronted up, insisting he had done little wrong while explaining his mindset after a brutal Qatar crash. “You are never prepared for being close to dying,” he said. Across 30 minutes speaking in his second language, it felt Martin earned the racing world’s grudging respect.
MOTO 2 – Moreira the Merrier
From Diogo to whoa, Moto2 delivered a tight season of thrills
With MotoGP’s champion crowned with five rounds to spare and Moto3 with four, it fell to the intermediate class to bring some much-needed jeopardy to the final races. And it duly delivered, as Diogo Moreira and Manuel Gonzalez contested a memorable title fight for the ages that verged on the personal.
After Pirelli’s entrance to the class in 2024, you’d expect things to be a little more settled this time around. They weren’t. Last year’s variation was still apparent, with a record 11 different race winners, 18 podium finishers and six pole-sitters across 22 races.
The racing was consistently top notch as well. Moto2 racing had become dull, follow-the-leader fare toward the end of the Dunlop-tyre era. There wasn’t much of that this term, with the finales to the British, Aragon, Dutch, Hungarian and Australian Grands Prix all worthy entrants to the best the category has seen.
The emergence of Moreira as a proper star of the future only became apparent later in the year. A regular top-five finisher early on, his challenge kicked into gear after the summer break. And as Gonzalez’s defensive riding turned against him, the Brazilian posted career-best performances in Indonesia and Portugal to show the necessary resolve to take the crown.
It wasn’t just a two-horse race. Barry Baltus, Jake Dixon, Aron Canet and Senna Agius regularly chimed in with challenges up front. And rookies Dani Holgado and David Alonso showed in the season’s second half why they already top MotoGP factory’s shopping lists for 2027.
Favouring a risk-free approach in its first season in the class, Pirelli generally brought softer rear tyres to every race this year, including its super soft SCX to a number of tracks. That generally played havoc with the grid’s eight Boscoscuro chassis, with no cures found for incessant chattering even at the season’s late stage. As it had done in 12 of the past 13 seasons, German chassis manufacturer Kalex wiped the floor, winning both the Rider’s and Constructor’s Championships.
‘Overtake of the Season’ Award
Deniz Oncu, Aragon. All weekend long, the young Turk was superior in the track’s final sector. Even then, his chances of victory when entering the final uphill double right-hander behind Moreira seemed remote. That was until he pulled alongside the Brazilian’s outside midway around, accelerating to and over the kerb to steal success at the last. Just 0.003sec were in it – Moto2’s closest ever finish. Added kudos goes to his response after. Asked for his secret in the long left after the race, the Turk’s answer was succinct: “Two big balls.”
‘Marc Marquez’ award for Comeback of the Year
Diogo Moreira, the Sachsenring. Okay, this one didn’t go the full distance but the champion’s ride here was the stuff of legend. All appeared lost sitting 25th on the grid after suffering in a wet qualifying. But he proceeded to scythe through the field at a rate that was reminiscent of Marc Marquez’s days in the class – and around a tight, narrow circuit, where overtakes are notoriously difficult. Yes, he crashed out toward the end but this was the first glimpse of the young Brazilian in full flow and realising all of his potential.
Moto3 – Rueda reigns
Ten wins, 14 podiums, Rueda wraps with four rounds to spare
For the second year in a row, the junior category was all about one man. As 2024 pioneer David Alonso stepped up to Moto2, Jose Antonio Rueda took over the Colombian’s mantle to amass 10 victories and 14 podiums as he wrapped up the title with four races to spare.
Blindingly fast from his debut in the class in 2023, Rueda showed he had no equals when conserving soft Pirelli rubber until the end of the race. But he had always been too much of a pushover in previous years. He banished that emphatically this time around, showing the necessary steel to win from the back of the grid at Silverstone and prevail in last-lap fights in France, Holland, San Marino and Indonesia. In short, “he became a bit of a bastard” this term, according to Team Manager Niklas Ajo.
In truth, Rueda was lucky to be alive after the Malaysian Grand Prix after a horrendous collision with Noah Dettwiler. Despite the pair suffering cardiac arrests in the immediate aftermath and needing to be revived by Chief Medical Officer Dr Angel Charte, both are on their ways to a full recovery – easily the best news of the season.
Rueda aside, 2025 had one of the strongest crops of rookies in recent memory. Alvaro Carpe stood on the podium in his first race and finished fourth overall. Maximo Quiles won three races on his way to a top-three finish in the standings – two Spanish teens you’ll hear a lot more of.
Racing was typically close and frenetic. There were six different winners, 12 polesitters and 15 different names to ascend the podium, underlining Moto3’s unpredictable nature.
Variety didn’t extend to the Constructor’s Championship, with KTM winning all but one race. Honda’s package was again underwhelming, with Adrian Fernandez the highest placed rider in seventh.
With the class poised to move from 250cc four strokes to 700cc twins in 2028, the days of Moto3 in its current exciting guise are limited.
‘Did he really just do that?’ for the year’s moment of brilliance
Jose Antonio Rueda, Silverstone. The Spaniard was demoted from pole to the back of the grid after riding irresponsibly in qualifying. Not to worry. He set about demoralising the field in an act of rampant bravado. Tenth by lap six, he ruthlessly cut through to mug new hotshot Max Quiles on the final lap to win. One of the most impressive Moto3 performances ever.
‘Remember the name’ award for emerging star
Maximo Quiles. Yet another outrageously talented Spaniard hot off the conveyor belt. Max was too young to compete in races one and two, then missed four and five after injuring his thumb. Still, he fought for second overall until the final race. In between he qualified on the front row on his debut at COTA – a track he hadn’t seen before Friday before leading his first ever lap of GP racing. A disciple of Marc Marquez no less, the 17-year-old showed intelligence through the year to shake off a bad rap from 2024 when his dangerous riding was a serious concern.
The Aussies (and Kiwi)
🇦🇺 Jack Miller (17th overall, MotoGP)
Just as he had done at KTM in 2023, Jack’s adaptation to Yamaha’s M1 caught many by surprise yet the M1’s limitations made themselves felt by June. From there it was a slog, as the factory turned to developing its new V4. Still, Jack’s front row at Phillip Island and heroic fourth was s special. His prior V4 experience should be of great value.
🇦🇺 Senna Agius (10th overall, Moto2)
Even if his final placing was a little disappointing, the highs were unforgettable: a maiden GP win at Silverstone, a dominant victory at home at Phillip Island, plus podiums in Thailand and Spain. It’s worth remembering this was only the 20-year-old’s second full season.
🇦🇺 Joel Kelso (6th overall, Moto3)
It ended in disappointment but this was Joel’s best GP season. After three podiums in April and May, injury, set-up changes and uncertainty regarding his future caused a downturn. But he was back at the front once he had signed for MLav Honda in 2026 and came within a second of a famous first victory at home.
🇦🇺 Jacob Roulstone (16th overall, Moto3)
Having missed all of preseason plus the first two rounds due to injury, Jacob was always playing catch-up. He was on for podium finishes in Aragon and Barcelona only for his bike to break down. Yet in the unforgiving world of Moto3, this wasn’t deemed enough to earn him a spot on the 2026 grid.
🇳🇿 Cormac Buchanan (20th overall, Moto3)
The Kiwi’s rookie season was a rollercoaster. The positives (three top-10 finishes) were mixed with some negatives (35 crashes across the campaign). But Cormac never gave in and surely deserves another shot in season 2026.
