MotoGP: The final Sprint of the season saw the 2025 runner-up hold out against ‘The Shark’ as Diggia vs Raul Fernandez goes to the wire.
Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) took honours in the final Tissot Sprint of 2025 as he cruised to victory on Saturday afternoon. Making it back-to-back Sprint wins and a third of the season, the #73 headed home a strong ride from Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) who had to come from the second row, whilst Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) bagged third after a late attack for the podium against Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team).
LIGHTS OUT! Bezzecchi drops, Acosta shines, Marquez leads
Getting the perfect launch from P2 on the grid, Marquez grabbed the holeshot to beat polesitter Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) into Turn 1. It was a rapid start from Acosta, who elevated himself from fifth to third and by Turn 2, into P2. ‘Bez’ dropped down to sixth behind the likes of Fernandez, Di Giannantonio and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) after a Lap 1 to forget for the polesitter.
TEAMMATE CLASH: Mir takes out Marini at Turn 2
At the start of the second lap, there was drama for Honda as Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) lost the front at Turn 2, taking out teammate Luca Marini, ending their Sprint. Mir has a Long Lap penalty for the GP race for the incident. At the same corner a lap later, there was contact between Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), resulting in the #54 being pushed wide. Miller was soon handed a penalty to drop three places for that, which he failed to do and was therefore given a Long Lap Penalty, hurting his charge to Sprint points.
BATTLES BEHIND: Bezzecchi gets to P5, Morbidelli climbs
After battling hard, Bezzecchi had finally cleared Quartararo for fifth but the Italian now had over a second to catch up on Fernandez and ‘Diggia’ ahead of him. At the front, the gap had grown to 1.4s by the halfway stage with Marquez managing it perfectly over Acosta, the latter still chasing a first win in MotoGP. The #37 needed to start thinking about those behind as those behind started to close him down. On Lap 9, meanwhile, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) got through on Quartararo as ‘El Diablo’ dropped back.
P3 FIGHT: head-to-head on the penultimate lap
In the fight for third, the gloves had really come off between Di Giannantonio and Fernandez as they swapped places all the way from Turn 4 to Turn 6 on the penultimate lap. All of the fighting was giving Bezzecchi second wind and with the last lap looming, time was running out for the final rostrum place.
AT THE FLAG: Marquez majestic in last Sprint of 2025
On the last lap and it was all settled at the front with Marquez taking honours ahead of Acosta who made it four consecutive Sprint podiums. Not only did the Spaniard take P2 but that, combined with a P14 for Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), means he is now into P4 in the standings with six points over Pecco.
Di Giannantonio held on to take third ahead of Fernandez, whilst Bezzecchi will be wanting more on Sunday after P5 on Saturday. The Italian does at least secure third in the Championship and with that, the first time Aprilia finish in the top three of the Riders’ Championship in MotoGP. Morbidelli was able to hold off Quartararo for P6 whilst Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came home eighth from P15.
Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) takes ninth for a first Sprint point since his home GP at Motegi. That means Honda are just out of scoring range with Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) in tenth – making it nine points they still need from Sunday to change concession rank from D to C… tune in tomorrow to see how the dice rolls on Sunday!
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