MotoGP riders and Team Managers reflect on Aragon Sprint Race – Moto2/3 QP

MotoGP 2025

Round Eight – Aragon – Saturday

Saturday Sprint Round-Up / Results
MotoGP Rider Quotes

Marc Márquez – P1

“I’ve been feeling really good so far. This is a track that suits my riding style well, on top of being one of my all-time favourite circuits. I’m enjoying my time here. The race was more challenging than expected, especially as I experienced some rear-tyre spinning at the start, but I’m sure we’ll improve in this area tomorrow. We still have to stay focused ahead of the race and keep the same level of intensity we’ve shown so far.”

Alex Marquez – P2

“Marc’s start was a bad one, but not as bad as I’d hoped. I tried to push, but when I saw him behind me, I realised that the smartest thing to do was to settle for second place. On a racetrack where your main rival is so dominant, we need to have a clever approach to racing. We’ll obviously try to defeat him tomorrow, but at the moment he’s got one and a half gears on us. We celebrate another podium and don’t give anything for granted; great job also by Fermin, who keeps growing.”

Fermin Aldeguer – P3

“We did take a gamble with the tyre choice, but it wasn’t luck. We worked on it, and it was a carefully thought decision. It was a risk worth taking in the Sprint race also to gather some data ahead of tomorrow. We got a great start which will be hard to replicate tomorrow, but we have all it takes to do well tomorrow”.

Franco Morbidelli – P4

“It was a great Saturday overall, starting in front row and having a good start in the Sprint. In the beginning I was struggling with the new tyres and I felt somehow less potential than the guys in front. Then I was feeling better and better, after 6-7 laps I had a better grip. I lost the third position, but I was able to keep the fourth place. I was feeling better at the end of the race than at the start. For tomorrow we will try something to improve our speed with new tyres. The medium tyre is the best choice for the main race.”

Pedro Acosta – P5

“Top five was our target: we have to be realistic and get as close to the podium fight as we can. I made a mistake trying to overtake [Franco] Morbidelli and maybe this cost us a lot because then I was having issues with the front tyre. But, anyway, a good start, a good first lap and I was able to catch up again at the end. So, good and bad today and we have to be happy because the weekend has been positive so far.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P6

“I has a great start, the best I ever had in terms of speed this year. I put myself in a good position right from the first lap and I tried to take advantage of the second part of the race because I had the medium tyre. I wanted to collect some data for tomorrow, but it was a great move because the medium worked well and I was feeling strong in braking and in the overtakes. I took a lot of time to overtake Quartararo, if I had been able to pass him sooner, I would have done something more. I can’t wait for the race tomorrow.”

Maverick Viñales – P7

“I am quite happy with the feeling of the bike, more than the sprint result! Starting from the 3rd row is not great because you have to fight a lot with the others, and I lost a lot of time at the start today. I think that today we could have fought for the podium, but anyway, it all starts with your position on the grid, so we know we have margin to improve. I don’t think we took the right tyres in qualifying, which was a bit difficult to accept for me because I feel like I had more than P8 on the grid, but I feel great and confident heading to tomorrow’s race. The bike is working well, so we will not change anything for Sunday, just the tyres as I hope the medium really gives us the extra needed on traction and consistency!”

Marco Bezzecchi – P8

“We limited the damage and we must try to be pleased. However, personally I am unable to be fully satisfied because the speed is there, but starting from so far back penalised us too much. It was not a good start because the spot on the grid was dirty and the bike skidded, so I was in last place at the first corner. During the first lap, I passed several riders though. I had a lot of fun because I had a good feeling at the front, so I was able to brake hard.”

Brad Binder – P9

“Finally a good qualifying but it meant lining up on the dirty side of the track for the grid. We tried everything to try and avoid spin…but it did anyway! I did a long rolling burnout and went all the way back to 16th or 17th. It made the race really tricky. Being in traffic effected the front tyre pressure and I had a lock-up at Turn 12 and went off. A tough race today. I expected a lot more. The feeling with the bike is not too bad and I think we can have a decent race. If we can launch and get away then it will be a completely different story. I want to be as close to the top five-six as possible.”

Raul Fernandez – P10

“I feel good with the bike. From the morning, I felt we made a step and that was important. This morning, we were working a lot with the medium to prepare for the Sprint and main race. I was really calm before the Sprint because I was confident with both rear tyre options and we decided, at the last moment, to switch to soft because we felt that was the better option for track conditions. We fought until the end, but I couldn’t get into the points. I think we made a good job and I’m happy as I think, we extracted 100% of the bike. Now we need a bit more help from Aprilia to make another step forward and I think this is the key.”

Fabio Quartararo – P11

“We managed to improve our feeling a lot today, so about this we can be pretty happy. The Sprint race was not what I expected, but the feeling was still better. There are still points of improvement, but overall it was a positive day, I would say. Tomorrow we will ride with the medium rear, so that should already solve some of the issues in theory. Realistically, I think we can fight for a position between P7 and P9.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P12

“Today I struggled quite a bit from the opening lap. I knew it would be tough already from FP2 as I wasn’t feeling comfortable despite a good lap at the end. We were able to improve by 0.6secs in qualifying but I honestly wasn’t expecting the race to be this challenging – I was expecting something more from it. The issues were similar to the ones experienced yesterday, with the front tucking in several parts of the track and – generally speaking – there’s a lack of feeling at the front, and that’s crucial for me. We’re still trying different adjustments and we’ll try to make a step forward ahead of tomorrow’s race.”

Jack Miller – P13

“I had a good feeling with the bike — it was working really well. Unfortunately, I had that contact with Joan Mir early on at Turn 12. I was trying to make a pass and felt strong on the brakes. When I saw a gap, I went for it, but as soon as you move off the racing line here, there‘s no grip. The bike snapped sideways at 90 degrees, and I was sliding, doing everything I could to avoid contact. Sadly, we touched, and just as that happened, my bike regained grip and sent me off track as well. I‘m really sorry for Joan — I never intended to make contact. It was my mistake. After that, I caught up to Bagnaia and tried to pass him before serving the long-lap penalty. I could see he was struggling, and I wanted to get by to limit how many positions I‘d lose, but it wasn‘t easy. I managed to recover a few spots in the end, but it was still a tough race. Tomorrow will be challenging too, starting from 14th. It‘s basically a one-line track here, and if you go offline to make a move, your tyres pick up dirt and you’re compromised for the next couple of corners.”

Alex Rins – P14

“This morning, we made a huge step in terms of performance, improving our lap time by 0.8s. The feeling was much better, so we were going into the Sprint with a lot of confidence. But this morning’s track conditions were much better than this afternoon’s. We encountered the same problems in the Sprint as we had yesterday: in hot conditions we struggle to stop the bike and stay on the line. Let’s see what we can do for tomorrow’s Race. We need to give it a good thought, because today was not easy.”

Miguel Oliveira – P15

“Today was a step forward for me, although qualifying was a disaster. I just couldn‘t make the soft rear tyre work in any condition, so I had to do my best without crashing. For the Sprint, I opted for the medium rear, and overall it worked well — except for the first few laps where it took me a bit of time to get into the rhythm. We made some progress, but we still need to take another step ahead of the race tomorrow. The fact that everyone will likely run the medium rear should level things out a bit. My goal is to get a clean start, gain a few positions early, and then see how the race unfolds.”

Johann Zarco – P16

“It’s been a tough Sprint. I wanted to do better, but it was a difficult day. I had already struggled in qualifying, and during the race, I couldn’t ride the way I wanted. I did my best, but it wasn’t easy. We know this is a particular track, and we’ll analyze everything this evening to get a broader view and understand why we weren’t in the game this weekend. Improving how the bike turns is something we need to focus on at this track.”

Enea Bastianini – P17

“Another difficult day for us. We tried to be more at the front, we pushed in qualifying but nothing worked well for us. In the sprint, I was a bit more competitive at the start, but I made many mistakes towards the last lap. It is a shame because we had a chance to fight for the top 10, but let’s try again tomorrow.”

Lorenzo Savadori – P18

“The sprint race didn’t go too badly. We struggled a bit with the front tyre overheating. The race start was positive. We were getting closer to the group, but then we had to manage this overheating problem a bit. All told, the upgrades we’re testing are giving positive results, so I think that they will soon be introduced on Marco’s bike as well.”

Somkiat Chantra – P19

“At the beginning, I felt better, but then it became difficult to adapt to the bike’s lack of rear grip in the hot conditions. I experienced some issues throughout the race, as the track was hotter than yesterday, which didn’t help. Towards the end of the race, I understood some things that will help me improve tomorrow. We’ll try to take a step forward.”

Augusto Fernandez – DNF

“I was feeling good riding with the ‘Yamaha pack’. This was my personal goal for the weekend, and I’m feeling good on the pace and everything. To be able to be close to them was very positive, and also in terms of the feeling on the bike it was good. I struggled a bit in qualifying. Finding my time-attack mode after one month off was tough. But during the Sprint I went right back to my good race-pace feeling. I felt good all weekend in terms of pace. It’s a shame the way the Sprint ended for me today, but we still have tomorrow. Hopefully we can have a good Race.”

Joan Mir – DNF

“A really frustrating day. Our feeling was good on the bike, different to yesterday and we had to make some changes this morning. It was a shame about the crash at the end of the morning, we tried something different and the feeling wasn’t improved. My team worked really well to prepare the bike for the race, thanks to all of them. The consequence of Miller’s actions caused my DNF as we touched. I don’t know why it happened. Tomorrow we will try and do our race and hope to avoid these problems.”

MotoGP Team Managers

Nicolas Goyon – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager

“The weekend has been strong so far for Maverick Viñales here in Aragon. This morning, he managed to qualify on the 3rd row despite a few mistakes in the fast laps, which was a good position, and in the sprint, he finished with a strong 7th place and the 3rd fastest lap. Maverick is back to the level he was before Silverstone, but most importantly, he is happy with the bike’s set up and the bike’s behaviour, so we can arrive on Sunday confident that he can continue the weekend in the right direction. Enea Bastianini showed us some positives in Practice yesterday, but the one-lap exercise is still quite difficult, so he qualified in 17th. In the sprint, he was in the top 12 in two laps, but a few mistakes and some oil spread on track by another rider forced him to drop to P17. Let’s keep the positives, and build on that to do a good race tomorrow.”

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Aprilia Racing

“Marco continues to provide positive evidence that the speed is there, but the competition consists in results and we need to work hard to be able to express that speed in every session. In MotoGP, qualifying has become fundamental. We’ll keep working in view of the race on Sunday as well as the upcoming races, so we remain extremely confident and optimistic. Lorenzo is also doing a great job, testing various components in real-race conditions.”

Massimo Meregalli – Monster Energy Yamaha Team Director

“Today’s results are not where we want to be in the classifications, but compared to yesterday we made a step. Fabio coming through Q1 and securing P9 on the grid in Q2 was a sign of progress. He had a great start to the Sprint, showing some gutsy overtaking on the opening lap and rode in sixth place in the first five laps. The second half was more challenging. He suffered from chatter after lap 4, and it progressively became worse. It was most likely due to racing with the soft rear, and P11 was the best Fabio could do today. Álex was also not far from the top 2 in Q1, taking P15. However, qualifying on the fifth row always puts a rider in a difficult position. He fell back for a bit, and the heat this afternoon created some issues for him as well, but he still managed to recover a few places at the end. We will analyse the data from both our riders and come up with a solution for tomorrow’s Race.”

Gino Borsoi – Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“It wasn‘t exactly a lucky Saturday. Jack‘s race was heavily impacted by the early contact with Mir, which is unfortunate because the medium rear tyre was the right call and could‘ve brought him a much stronger result without the penalty. Miguel also had solid pace, reinforcing the strength of our tyre strategy. Hopefully the data we gathered today will be valuable for tomorrow‘s race, where everyone will be forced to start on the same compound. Having consistent pace will be key to fighting for a strong result.”

David Brivio – Trackhouse Aprilia Team Principal

“Today was a good race for Raul. We started P13, kept a good pace and then managed to recover some positions. We finished in P10, very close to the points in the Sprint and I think it was positive. We are happy about that as it could be a good preparation for tomorrow. Raul was comfortable on the bike, he was happy with the bike. Tomorrow will be different, the race is longer, we’ll have different tyres, but I think it was a good learning today and we try to put all together tomorrow.”

MotoGP Sprint Race Report

The opening lap of the Sprint Race at Aragon on Saturday was a ripper. Marc’s Ducati spun up off the line before he then collided in the braking area with a fast-starting Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), pushing him back to fourth early on and announcing it was on like Donkey Kong. Alex Marquez snatched the holeshot and broke free ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team).

Further back, there was plenty of battling between rivals Aldeguer and Acosta, then they battled over P4, that contest initially going Acosta’s way. Fuerther back there was big drama for Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) and Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol), with the latter running off track and then falling; Miller was issued a Long Lap Penalty, the latest in a long story of that rivalry.

Marc worked his way forward to get the better of a resistant Franco Morbidelli and then set out after his brother, Alex.  This left Morbidelli in the clutches of Acosta, who had now got within striking distance by Lap 4. He tried to go up the inside at Turn 1 but Franky retaliated, with the Italian holding firm.

A lap later and Acosta was back to try again, but this time ran deep into Turn 1, putting him in a battle with Aldeguer once more. Aldeguer struck at Turn 12, holding firm until Turn 16 when Acosta went ahead again but once more, he was wide, paving the way for Fermin to bag P4 and charge after the podium places.

Meanwhile, another battle was brewing as Marc had closed down brother Alex for the lead and by the start of Lap 6, then got the job done at Turn 1. The younger Marquez brother was still with him for half a lap but by Turn 7, Marc had got into his stride and was now the pacesetter at the front.

Whilst one factory Ducati was enjoying their time at the front, another was having a nightmare as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) dropped down early on and then made a mistake at Turn 7, dropping him to 13th.

With just four laps to go, it was Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) vs Maverick Viñales at Turn 1, with the Spaniard passing the Frenchman but using all the track to do so; Quartararo had to sit up, allowing Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) to zip by.

In the final three laps, Aldeguer was ruffling more feathers; this time, it was Morbidelli who was forced to yield with a bold move at Turn 4, giving the Murcian rider P3. This left Morbidelli to fend off fourth place from Acosta on the final lap but up at the front, Marc Marquez was in dreamland in his true stomping ground, easing to Sprint success, extending his lead in the standings to 27 points and thus guaranteeing that regardless of what happens tomorrow, he’ll lead the standings to Ducati’s backyard at Mugello.

Alex Marquez was a hard-fought second ahead of Aldeguer, doubling up Gresini’s Aragon success and making it a second Sprint rostrum for himself in his rookie year.

Morbidelli held on ahead of Acosta despite the KTM star’s pressure in the closing stages but Acosta ended up being lucky himself, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) closing hand over fist in the final laps but running out of time, still bagging sixth from P10 on the grid.

Viñales was seventh but it really was a fine comeback ride for Bezzecchi, from P20 on the grid and a qualifying to forget, to two points in the Sprint, showing that the Aprilia’s pace is right there after Silverstone.

The final point went to Binder, his first Sprint point since Thailand. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) narrowly missed out and rounded out the top ten, whilst Pecco’s mistake left him down in 12th, behind Quartararo.

MotoGP Sprint Race Results

Aragon MotoGP Qualifying Times

Moto2

Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) is a history maker after becoming the first Brazilian to claim a pole position in Moto2, continuing an impressive run of form in his sophomore season in the class.

Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) will line up in the middle of the front row in P2, the Belgian was 0.222s adrift of Moreira in qualifying, as Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) bagged P3.

Elsewhere, there was early drama for Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP). A fast crash before he’d set a lap time signalled the end of his session, which means the Spaniard will start the Aragon GP from P18 on the grid – work to do.

His chief title rival, Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) fronts the second row in fourth, as both CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team rookies line up alongside the #44 – Daniel Holgado and Silverstone podium finisher David Alonso.

British GP winner Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) will launch from P13, with double 2025 race winner Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) P14 on the grid – so there’s some key contenders starting from further down the grid on Sunday afternoon.

Senna Agius – P13

“I’m pretty disappointed with my qualifying because I made too many mistakes. I had a better feeling with the bike today, so I could have done a better job than I did. But I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be a super long race where tyre management is going to be very tricky. After a good start, I hope I can manage the tyres well, because the goal is to finish in the top eight.”

Aragon Moto2 Qualifying Times

Moto2 Championship Standings

Moto3

Q1 for Moto3 was all action and with some major names vying for graduation to Q2, there were always going to be disappointments. Quiles put together a succession of strong laps and was down into the 1’57.4s by the chequered flag, booking his slot in the pole shootout. Previous Aragon winner and teammate Dennis Foggia was another name aiming to move through, along with Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI), rookie Guido Pini (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia). Yamanaka and Furusato both joined Quiles but there was a surprise too with Vicente Perez (LEVELUP-MTA) in P4, edging out Foggia, whilst Pini will start from P21.

So, the all important Q2 was up next with a star-studded line-up; pre-session favourites Rueda and David Almansa (Leopard Racing) had a target on their backs as a crucial 15 minutes got underway. Almansa tracked Rueda in the early stages whilst there were two crashers: David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) at Turn 8 with a big highside off-line, and then Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) in the second half of the second sector. After a first flying lap, rookie Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) led the way but it was Quiles on his third lap who was on top.

There was more bad luck for Leopard Racing as Almansa crashed on the exit of Turn 7, a huge shame as he’d been inside the top three all weekend up to that point. With his final flying lap, Rueda then stormed to the top of the times with a new lap record – a 1’56.361 saw him bag another pole position, ahead of Lunetta taking his first front row of 2025. Quiles, having been in Q1, completes the front row with a final flying lap to demote Carpe to the head of Row 2.

Furusato claimed his best qualifying of the year in fifth ahead of another personal best of the year for Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull KTM Tech 3). Almansa, unable to improve due to a late crash, is P7.

Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA) came good to finishing eighth ahead of Muñoz who, despite crashing, secures the final place on the third row, whilst the top ten is completed by Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI), who’ll be one of the first looking to move forward.

Aragon Moto3 Qualifying Times

2025 MotoGP Calendar