MotoGP riders reflect on the ups and downs of the Spanish GP

MotoGP 2025

Round Five – Spain – Jerez – Rider Recap

Alex Marquez – P1

“Now I am more realistic about what happened today, in the moment, on the podium it was a mix of emotions, super happy, to be here in Jerez. If you asked me where would I want to win my first MotoGP race, it would say Jerez, I made my first Moto2 victory here, it was super special, but MotoGP is another level. The crowd, the people, they get crazy. I think I did the perfect race, in the perfect mood, when I saw Marc crashed I said, ‘Alex, today is your day.’  I did the overtaking, the move in the right moment in the right places, and with my rhythm I was trying to control the cup with Fabio, so super happy with that.

“Everybody today wanted to be in the front, because it was so important for the front tyre, and everyone was a bit crazy in that first corner, that first lap. In turn one I had contact with Marc, I was trying to make the move on Marc to the inside, I was not sure what would happen with my front as I was a bit on the limit, so I saw there was a gap between Marc and Pecco and I used a little bit of front brake, went wide and came back. I lost a position to Maverick but recovered in a good way. So happy for that, and the move on Pecco at the last corner, I saw it in warm up, and on Fabio I saw I had to go – I was on the limit on the front.

“Towards the end I was losing a little concentration, I was thinking too much, so I said, ‘Alex make your rhythm’ and I pushed again, and I was really comfortable with that pace. I was pushing, and people would ask why push and make the gap bigger, but because what’s the best way to keep the concentration – if you start to release in some corners and on the brakes, it’s easier to crash on this bike. So I kept trying to brake, not in a crazy way, making things in the right way not to lose the concentration. The team did say to me, why did you do that with your hand [waving to the crowd], but I had seen Lorenzo doing that, and I said to myself if someday I’m there I will do that. In Moto2 I had a big gap and didn’t have the balls to do  it, so this time I thought I may not have this opportunity again in my life, so I had to do it.”

Fabio Quartararo – P2

“It’s incredible! I am over the moon! To be on the podium is something super special. The moments we lived this weekend: with my team, with my crew, with my family, and my friends were amazing – especially making the pole position. Leading the Sprint and Race and making the podium was nice. Fighting at the front is a great feeling. Being at the front and leading a race is something I love. The gap to the winner was not so big here, Alex Marquez just had a bit more today. To keep Pecco [Bagnaia] behind us all race by 0.5s was so difficult. It’s been a long time, but I’m super happy to be back on the podium in Jerez. Thank you to the fans at home voting for me as the ‘Rider of the Race’. Thank you also to all the fans that were here to support us. Also yesterday, after the crash, they all applauded, so a big thanks to them, and see you in Le Mans! I’m super happy to have done this podium before the French GP. Le Mans is also going to be super special because it’s a track that I like, there are many fans there, it’s my home GP, and there will also be some nice liveries there.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P3

“After the battle with Marc on lap one, I pushed hard to try and catch Fabio (Quartararo), but unfortunately I didn’t have enough to overtake him. From then on, I wasn’t able to be as effective as Alex (Márquez) at turns 11 and 12; I couldn’t make the most of them to get closer. In any case, this is a third place that, with Marc’s crash, allowed me to narrow the gap down to the championship lead. Today I couldn’t fully exploit the bike’s potential, and therefore I’m not fully happy.”

Maverick Viñales – P4

“We are really happy with today’s race, and the weekend in general which we have really turned in the right direction, especially after being out of Q2 on Friday. Today in the race, I had a really good pace, I was even recovering on Pecco (Francesco Bagnaia) and Fabio Quartarao in the end, but then I started to miss the apex all the time, so I calmed down a bit and told myself ‘4th is ok Maverick, let’s try next time’.  Happy to take 4th for the team and for KTM. We are working well, we have found a really good base that I like a lot, that we importantly need to keep and build from, where I can add the extras let’s say. Tomorrow during the test, we will focus on details mainly and also try to improve ourselves on the braking. We still need to learn and understand the bike, so we have plenty of work on Monday!”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P5

“It’s been a tough weekend, but I think that we did a good job to secure another Top5 in today’s race. It was the goal today. I’m happy with this result, we were not that far from the podium, it was a good performance overall. But for sure this is not the way we have to work during the weekend, as we saw this weekend, we lost a lot of time trying many things. We learned a lot in Jerez. In tomorrow’s test we have plenty of things to try, it will be interesting also because test days are few, so we have to maximise the kilometres on track.”

Brad Binder – P6

“Much more satisfied with what we managed to do today. We made a big change with the bike and it was turning a lot better, especially with edge grip and I could manage it better. I could push. It’s nice to make a decent recovery. I still need to work on my all-out pace: I’m not fast enough. My consistency was good, I just need that extra speed. I need to find that small extra comfort to be able to push on again.”

Pedro Acosta – P7

“We need to improve the first part of the race. There was low grip at the beginning but from lap seven or eight everything started to work and we had the pace of the top group. We could recover a bit. A good feeling. Brad and I were making the same mistakes and having the same issues but I think we were some of the fastest guys at the end of the race. Good overall.”

Ai Ogura – P8

“I think it was a good day, not just in the race, as we made a step from yesterday. In some parts of the track I was riding a lot easier today and that gives me more confidence on the bike. I basically improved the braking, that gives me consistency and with that it was a bit easier to manage the race. I’m really happy about the step we made today and tomorrow we have another day to test things, so this is great. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be a good one as well.”

Enea Bastianini – P9

“We can be happy with our final result especially after the weekend we have had. I felt confident in the first part of the race, but the vibrations of the bike in the fast corners were really difficult to manage, and I lost a bit of the feeling at some point. Still, I managed to overtake a few riders and I felt much better after. We have an important test tomorrow, we have important things to try out to increase our performance so I am looking forward to that. After that, we will go to Le Mans, one of my favorite tracks and my team’s home round where I want to be competitive, so let’s get the work done tomorrow!”

Luca Marini – P10

“A good day, a good weekend especially when I look at how tough this weekend has been for me. Today I think we achieved the best result I could, I am super satisfied with this and what we have done. Every day we have been able to improve the bike and make good steps forward with my team. Our pace was good, we had some good fights and tenth is okay for where we are. I am coming into tomorrow with positivity and excited to find something new.”

Johann Zarco – P11

“I had a good start and felt I could maintain a strong pace. However, I struggled with rear grip on corner entry. I tried to do my best to at least secure some points, and that’s exactly what we did. It was important to stay focused and make the most of what we had. Tomorrow’s test will be crucial to improve in some areas and be fully ready for Le Mans”.

Marc Márquez – P12

“It was a mistake we must learn from if we want to fight for the title. We had great speed, but we still need to fully understand the reason behind the crash, as I wasn’t attacking — I know the second part of the race is my strong point. Unfortunately, this is how it went. The important thing is that we have the pace and we’re only one point away from the top. I’m obviously super happy and proud of Alex for the win, as I knew it was one of his career goals.”

Alex Rins – P13

“The Race was quite tough because it was difficult to manage the pain and my body’s condition after the big impact I had yesterday. I was able to finish the race. I feel tired, but like normal. We changed the set-up of the bike a bit for today. I did some overtakes in this race. Unfortunately, Marc overtook me in Turn 11 on the last lap, so I lost one position, but it was still a positive day. Congrats to Fabio! He deserves it. This is an unbelievable boost for the entire team. Just chapeau!”

Aleix Espargaro – P14 (demoted to P17 for tyre pressure penalty)

“Today I am satisfied with what we have done. Honestly, I went to bed a little bit angry because I thought we left some things on track. But today everyone was able to make and step and improve, we just need a bit more time and we can be there closer with the other Honda riders. I felt better with every lap in the race and at the middle of the race I was able to mirror the times of the other Honda riders. A solid weekend and importantly our comments align with the other riders, and we have more information for our work. A pleasure to wear these colours.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P15

“It was unfortunately a rather bad race for me because I went long at the first corner on the second lap, going into the gravel and ending up basically in last place. After that, I lapped well, but at that point the result had already been compromised. It’s a real shame. We’ll continue working hard, starting from the tests on Monday.”

Raul Fernandez – P16

“Today didn’t go as we expected, to be honest. Anyway, tomorrow we have an important test to try to find something because right now, I don’t feel comfortable to push on the bike and to use my riding style. I hope we can do well tomorrow, trying to be calm, to find something because I would like to see what we can do to improve our situation. It’s not easy but, if we continue working hard like now, I’m sure we will find something to change the whole situation.”

Augusto Fernandez – P17

“Fabio did an incredible job today, just as he has throughout the entire weekend. He knows the bike inside out and is able to push it to the limit — if not beyond — while minimizing its weaknesses. That makes me really happy because, while everyone is talking about Yamaha‘s V4 project, we‘ve been able to keep improving this bike, bringing small updates and working on the details to give all the riders a better feeling. We also saw it with Jack, who, despite some bad luck today, showed he had the pace for a great race. We need to keep working in this direction. As for me, I feel I‘ve made a lot of progress over these last races. But now, shaving off that final second is the hardest part, especially because of my role this year, where testing new parts makes it difficult to focus purely on speed. Still, I‘m happy with the progress we‘re making.”

Lorenzo Savadori – P18

“When you test new elements, you clearly need time to assess them, so this can slow you down and have an impact on performance. We are constantly trying to improve and grow the bike in order to provide a better RS-GP25 to both Marco and Jorge. On Monday, we’ll have the tests and a lot of new upgrades to try. Also, part of what I tested this weekend in Jerez will subsequently be given to the Aprilia factory riders.”

Somkiat Chantra – DNF

“I’ve been struggling with arm pump throughout the whole weekend. I thought it might go away, but it kept getting worse. I’ll visit my doctor on Tuesday after the test to find out exactly what’s going on”.

Joan Mir – DNF

“We have to look at the positive points from today and the speed we were able to show all weekend. I was able to be fast, but I wasn’t exactly riding comfortably. I let Morbidelli past because I saw he was faster, and I tried to follow him and escape from the other riders, but he was struggling a lot, and I went wide with him. We need to analyse everything from today. If there were eight or nine laps more it would have been a really nice weekend for us, the potential was there – we can be fast, I am fast. But we need to finish. Now we switch our focus and look to Monday and the future now.”

Jack Miller – DNF

“This morning, we made a small adjustment to the front end by pulling the headstock back a bit, and it definitely helped — I had a better feeling without losing much braking performance. The race was going well… until it wasn‘t. At the rear of the bike, where the wiring loom runs, one of the fairing bolts was rubbing against it and eventually cut through, breaking a couple of critical wires and forcing me to retire. It‘s obviously disappointing because there were some solid points up for grabs today, and we gave them away — but that‘s racing. Sometimes it‘s you, sometimes it‘s the bike. The good news is we‘re heading to Le Mans next, and we‘ll give it everything. In the race, I was feeling strong, even though Morbidelli hit me at the last corner and again at Turn 1, which let Binder and Acosta slip past. After that, I managed to regroup, and the balance of the bike was actually starting to feel better. Unfortunately, we never got the chance to see how it could have ended. Now I‘m excited for the test day tomorrow. We‘ll be trying a few different things on what you could call a ‘normal’ track — with more typical grip, temperatures, and layout — so I‘m looking forward to playing around a bit and continuing to build from here.”

Fermin Aldeguer – DNF

“I must admit I’m angry and frustrated with this mistake. We could have done well, if not really well, we had the pace to be with the frontrunners. Unfortunately I paid a big price for a small mistake, but we keep learning and growing. I’d like to give my biggest congratulations to Alex, he deserves this win.”

Team Managers

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“Back on the podium with a superb second place! We already had the impression on Friday that we might have the possibility to do well. Fabio and his crew were able to put all the pieces together today. Fabio fought hard from start to finish, and this podium is a testament to his hard work as well as that of the team and the Yamaha engineers because, as you can imagine, a lot of hard work behind the scenes has led to this result. The last time we were on the podium was in 2023 at the Indonesian GP, so this hard-fought and well-deserved podium tastes extra sweet. Álex also ended a tough weekend on a very positive note, riding from P23 to P13. He put in several overtakes, and it shows that we are gradually improving and becoming more competitive. Tomorrow, we have the one-day IRTA Test, where we will work more on bike development. After today’s positive race, we will start the Jerez Test with an ultra-high level of motivation.”

Nicolas Goyon – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“I would like to address a special thank you to both our Red Bull KTM Tech3 riders for today’s performances, and a big bravo to Maverick Viñales who has shown good form all weekend, to finish with a 4th place today. He rode at a very similar pace to the top guys at the front, which is a huge positive boost for our project and our package, so congratulations to him. Enea Bastianini has used us to Sunday’s remontadas, but today was special again starting from 18th to finish in 9th, close to all his fellow KTM teammates. It shows that he has the rhythm, but it is obviously crucial that we improve on qualifying. We have an important test tomorrow, during which we will be able to try things that will hopefully help both Enea and Maverick to make the steps that are needed to close the gap on our rivals. It will be crucial for us to test things that we never have time to work on during the race weekends, so let’s focus on tomorrow!”

David Brivio – Trackhouse Aprilia Team Principal

“I think today we saw another good race from Ai. Of course, it’s difficult to start in P15 and this, I think, compromised the chances of an even better result. But, we are happy because he kept a good pace, very constant through the race, stayed there with the group that he was in and I think he did the maximum he could – no mistakes, constant pace, good progress. Unfortunately, again, Raul is struggling. He struggles with his riding style and tomorrow is a good opportunity to go through the issues and try something different to see if we can make him more comfortable on the bike.”

Aki Ajo – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“Another positive weekend in a row and more understanding about where we are and how to improve into areas where we’ve had some weakness. The Sprint race on Saturday was not the easiest session but in the grand prix today we made a step forwards, and in different conditions. It’s important that we look at the progress in the last three races and that we are moving in the right direction. We are creating the feeling that our riders need and increasing the trust. Now we look to France.”

Gino Borsoi – Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“It‘s not easy to comment on a race that leaves you with such a bitter taste, especially after seeing what the early laps had promised. It‘s a real shame because Jack was having a fantastic race, aggressive from the start, quickly moving into the group chasing the podium positions. It was a day where a top-ten finish was within reach, and that’s the part I like to focus on, regardless of the retirement. Yamaha, as Fabio Quartararo‘s outstanding race showed, is making real progress, and on the right tracks and in the right conditions, we can aim for top positions. Races like this are a great morale boost for everyone, and that’s the spirit we need to carry forward. Now we look ahead to Le Mans, hoping to have Miguel Oliveira fully recovered and back with us.”

Massimo Rivola – Aprilia Racing

“Once again, we did not achieve the potential we demonstrated in the race, where we had a top 5 pace and peaking even better, but finding our way only after ending up at the rear of the group in today’s MotoGP race makes things extremely difficult. On Monday we have an important test planned, given the various upgrades which Lorenzo has partially tried already. We are pleased that Jorge returned to Spain and for the encouraging news on his physical condition. We are going through a rough time right now, but our optimism that we will come back strong is unchanged.”

Pablo Nieto – VR46 Team Manager

“It was a tough race, we knew in Jerez everyone would have been very fast and it was important to start as further as possible. We were aware that we had to struggle, but Di Giannantonio secured the fifth place, which is a good result. We did the maximum and this is the most important thing. It’s a pity for Morbidelli’s crash he was very fast. The team decided that Franco won’t take part to tomorrow’s test and he will rest after the two crashes of this weekend.”

Piero Taramasso – Michelin

“We experienced an exceptional weekend where all the ingredients were gathered to make this Grand Prix truly memorable.  The record-breaking attendance, the electric atmosphere, the intensity of the races, and the performance of our tires all contributed to this collective success. From Fabio Quartararo’s pole position on Saturday morning to Alex Marquez’s maiden Grand Prix victory on Sunday afternoon, our tires demonstrated outstanding performance on a track heated to the extreme. The fact that every benchmark time dropped confirms that both the bikes and our tires have made significant progress. The package we brought to Jerez performed flawlessly, and I sincerely believe it couldn’t have unfolded any better. The rest of the season promises to be thrilling, especially with the next round being the Michelin Grand Prix of France, where we are more determined than ever to raise the bar even higher.”

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