Winners and losers from MotoGP’s 2025 Portuguese GP

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Winners and losers from MotoGP’s 2025 Portuguese GP

November 10, 2025

Aprilia returned to the top in MotoGP at the Portuguese Grand Prix, as Marco Bezzecchi shrugged off his sprint defeat to deliver a dominant victory on Sunday.

Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta were the star performers of the weekend, each leading the charge for their respective (European) manufacturers. Honda and Yamaha weren’t in the fight, but the dynamics within their respective line-ups continue to change.

Here are the winners and losers from the Portuguese GP.

Winner: Marco Bezzecchi

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing

After the frustration of Malaysia, Aprilia needed to prove that its late-season progress was real. Its star rider Marco Bezzecchi also needed to convert his undeniable speed into a top result, having given away a likely victory in Indonesia and then paid the price for it again in Australia. Both did everything right to end the Portugal weekend with a victory.

Saturday represented a missed opportunity for polesitter Bezzecchi, as he lost a place to Alex Marquez while trying to repass Pedro Acosta for the lead. However, he didn’t let the duo get too close to him on the opening laps, simultaneously keeping enough life in his tyres for the second half of the race. It was a composed and clinical performance from the Italian, who has now cemented his grip on third in the championship.

Loser: Francesco Bagnaia

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Francesco Bagnaia came away from the Portugal weekend with just two points. A fourth-place result in qualifying was commendable, considering his recent woes, but it all went downhill from there.

Pushing too hard at the start of the sprint meant he had no grip left in his rear tyre, contributing to his slide down to eighth place. On Sunday, he was again having to ride on the edge to stay in touch with the lead group, and ultimately, his front tyre let go under braking on lap 11.

It was the fourth successive grand prix retirement for Bagnaia, meaning he hasn’t finished a single Sunday race since his epic victory in Japan. The factory Ducati rider has not only slipped behind Bezzecchi, but now faces a tough task to keep Acosta at bay, with just four points separating the two in the Valencia finale.

Winner: Sprint format

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta delivered one of the most thrilling duels of the year as they duked it out for victory in the Portimao sprint. Acosta passed Bezzecchi early, only for Marquez to do likewise and launch his own challenge.

The duo traded positions on several occasions, with Acosta successfully retaliating after Marquez first passed him on lap 6. The Gresini rider managed to make the move stick two laps later, but Acosta remained in the hunt and kept him honest until the finish line – eventually finishing just 0.120s behind. Bezzecchi didn’t lose touch with the two either and was only 0.6s behind at the chequered flag, demonstrating how the top three had a clear advantage over the front.

It was also interesting to see Marquez maintain his aggressive and fighting instinct after sealing second place in the championship. Acosta, meanwhile, once again demonstrated why he is viewed as MotoGP’s next big thing, even as he searches for that elusive first win.

Loser: Luca Marini

Luca Marini, Honda HRC

The RC213V’s relatively poor aero meant Honda wasn’t a top-five contender, but it was Luca Marini who struggled the most within its contingent.

While Joan Mir and Johann Zarco directly made it through Q2, Marini could only qualify 13th, putting him on the back foot for the remainder of the weekend. The sprint was nothing to write home about, with an off-track excursion at Turn 5 compounding his woes.

Sunday was another day where he struggled, particularly with a lack of mechanical grip, finishing the race in 11th. With Mir having scored two podiums in the last five weekends, pressure is building on Marini to deliver a standout result while maintaining his consistency.

Winners: KTM and Honda’s performers

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Brad Binder had been the weak link in KTM’s line-up for most of the year, but he carried the momentum from recent weekends to secure a solid top-five result. Considering his fourth-place finish in Indonesia was largely down to track conditions, this was arguably his best performance of the season.

Binder did struggle in qualifying, but was able to take advantage of KTM’s best-in-class launch control system to jump from 14th to eighth on the opening lap. He continued to carve his way through the pack from there, only losing time behind Fabio Quartararo, to bag a solid haul of points. If things go well in Valencia, he might break into the top 10 in the standings.

Over at Honda, Johann Zarco had been in a similar position to Binder in the second half of the season after his earlier heroics at Le Mans and Silverstone. However, in Portugal, he reasserted his status as the top performer within the Honda camp. Crucially, Zarco’s result came on the upgraded RC213V, on which he had been struggling ever since he made the switch.

The Frenchman explained that the breakthrough came from adjusting the bike to give him stability and prevent further crashes. This renewed confidence allowed him to finish seventh in the sprint and ninth in the grand prix – the maximum he could achieve on a track that was among Honda’s weakest on the calendar.

Loser: Yamaha’s underperformer

Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing

The story at Yamaha was different, however, as Alex Rins wound up 13th, behind not only team-mate Fabio Quartararo but also the Pramac bike of Jack Miller.

Top-10 finishes in Indonesia and Australia had raised hopes of a breakthrough, but the regression in Malaysia and now Portugal is cause for worry for the Spaniard.

In qualifying, he was only 17th, just a tenth ahead of debutant Nicolo Bulega on the factory Ducati. Saturday’s sprint was severely compromised by clutch issues at the start, but the grand prix wasn’t much better, as he struggled throughout with a lack of pace.

While there are bigger question marks over the performance and potential of Yamaha’s V4, the upcoming Valencia test will be just as crucial for Rins in finding a solution to his problems.