Winners and losers from MotoGP’s Spanish GP

He did it at last! No longer can Alex Marquez be called Mr Second Place. And make no mistake, this was a thoroughly deserved success even though his brother and nemesis Marc dropped his GP25 into the gravel on Sunday.

The younger Marquez already showed signs that he was taking his challenge up a notch by topping both sessions on Friday. The fact that he fell twice on the day only made the feat more impressive.

The lost track time did put Alex on the back foot heading into Saturday, which possibly explains his fairly passive second place behind his brother in the sprint. But his GP24 was clearly ready by the time the Spanish GP came round.

Alex was only third when Marc fell; there were still two world champions to pass on a track not known for overtaking. But he calmly dispensed with both Francesco Bagnaia’s factory GP25 and Quartararo’s Yamaha to truly earn his maiden grand prix win.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Jose Breton – Pics Action – NurPhoto – Getty Images

It’s a measure of Marc’s lofty standards that a weekend on which he won a race goes down as a failure. But the fact is that he wasn’t quite on song at Jerez. There was already a hint of that on Friday – the first time Marc went through a whole practice day in 2025 without topping at least one session.

He also failed to take his customary pole position, despite setting what looked a stellar benchmark early in qualifying. When Quartararo went faster, Marc had no answer. Sure, Marquez got a dash of revenge in the sprint, but Sunday was probably his most psychologically damaging day of the season so far.

Firstly, Marquez had an unusually poor start. Secondly, he lost out in an early dice with his team-mate Bagnaia – a telling reversal from their first-lap duel in Austin. Thirdly, he crashed out of the race on lap three. And finally, he couldn’t even offer an explanation for the accident.

On top of all that, Marc lost the championship lead to Alex, just as he did in Texas. It’s only a point and it’s unlikely to matter come year’s end… but the only celebrating Marc will be doing post-Jerez will be for and with his little brother.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Jorge Guerrero – AFP – Getty Images

If it’s even possible for Quartararo’s respect and reputation in the paddock to take another leap, then it has certainly done so in the wake of the Spanish GP.

Fabio declared last time out in Qatar that he’d had enough of tinkering with (and probably also complaining about) his Yamaha M1. He was going to get on with riding it as best he could and see what happened.

After qualifying on the front row in Doha, the 2021 world champion had every reason to stick to his new strategy in Spain. And the Frenchman promptly put the bike on pole position – the first time a non-Ducati rider has done that since the Japanese GP in October.

Quartararo led the sprint for a lap and a half before falling in a doomed attempt to duke it out with Marc Marquez. But he was smiling that evening, thrilled to have led a race again.

Then on Sunday, it was Marc who fell – and Fabio stuck around to take advantage. He held off Bagnaia despite what Pecco was happy to admit was “a slower bike” to take second place – the first Yamaha grand prix podium since Indonesia in 2023.

Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Jose Breton – Pics Action – NurPhoto – Getty Images

Spare a thought for the guy on the other factory Yamaha. While Quartararo was celebrating pole position, Alex Rins was propping up the grid.

The five-time grand prix winner has been unable to keep up with the 2021 world champion all year, but this was just a nightmare beyond the norm. Rins wasn’t enjoying Saturday morning’s latest experiment on his M1 and crashed at high speed in Free Practice 2. The subsequent visit to the medical centre delayed him to the point that he almost couldn’t do a qualifying lap at all. And the one he did register was only good enough for last.

From there his weekend was pretty doomed, although he did finish both races. After a modest 15th place in the sprint, Rins saw the chequered flag on Sunday right in the wheel tracks of Marc Marquez… a man who had, somewhat demoralizingly, squeezed a crash into his afternoon before surging past the Yamaha.

Winner: Maverick Vinales

Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Ever since the Americas Grand Prix, Vinales has been muscling in on Pedro Acosta’s territory as de facto leader of the KTM quartet. Some thought his on-the-road second place in Qatar was a flash in the pan, but Jerez suggested that Maverick has emerged as a consistent frontrunner.

In Spain he once again put the hyped Acosta into the shade in both qualifying and racing. He didn’t stand on the podium this time, but he was within touching distance of it as he followed Bagnaia’s factory Ducati home in fourth. And this time, he was even allowed to keep his points.

Vinales seems to grow more relaxed and confident by the week – and he openly admits as much. Traditionally a man to divide opinion, he is beginning to draw praise from even the most reluctant quarters. Watch this space.

Joan Mir, Honda HRC

Photo by: HRC

Even the most patient of Joan Mir fans must be losing their rag by now. Mir has now fallen six times in five weekends. Only Jack Miller has crashed more. But Mir’s tumbles have come in races – on Sundays in particular – costing points in glaring fashion. He has finished only one of the season’s grands prix.

The Spaniard’s latest grand prix accident was his most wretched of the year so far, because Mir was running in a sixth place that would have brought plenty of cheer to the HRC garage. He’d got that high partly because the likes of Marc Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer had crashed ahead of him. Was that not warning enough to take good care?

The crash wasn’t even a case of pushing the limits. Mir said he had been drawn into the accident by Franco Morbidelli’s mistake ahead of him. Make of that what you will, but it’s getting increasingly difficult to summon up the image of the man who won the 2020 world title on the back of consistency and a strong finishing record.

Yet as long as Mir remains bouncy and positive about the Honda’s potential – and freely admits that finishing is the biggest issue he needs to work on – there has to be hope.

Ai Ogura, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Jose Breton – Pics Action – NurPhoto – Getty Images

The Trackhouse rookie has been Aprilia’s only shining light in its tough start to the 2025 campaign. Even his less spectacular weekends since his top-five display at the Thai opener have shown a degree of progress if nothing else. In Spain, however, he just never seemed to get going.

Ogura qualified 15th and sounded unusually defeated in his Saturday media briefing. After he started the season so sensationally, the current dip will be a real test of his mental resolve as he discovers MotoGP isn’t always going to be a breeze. The general malaise at Aprilia will add to that examination of character.

But at least he has kept up his perfect finishing record. So just as in Texas, he was around to hoover up some good points in an attritional race on Sunday. And he leaves Jerez one point ahead of battling factory rider Marco Bezzecchi.

Loser: Pedro Acosta

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Acosta’s bright-burning star has received quite the dousing since qualifying in the USA. The revelation of 2024 has started a slide that’s alarming by his standards.

If there was one thing you could count on Acosta for until last weekend in Qatar, it was at least a respectable lap in qualifying. He didn’t start lower than seventh on the first three weekends. But in Doha, where he switched back to the 2024 bike, he suddenly started propping up the Q2 field. He repeated the same trick at Jerez, having taken a tumble in Free Practice 2 shortly before the qualifying session.

Acosta is not accustomed to starting or finishing in double-digit positions. Yet he limped to 10th in the sprint. His seventh on Sunday was decent considering how he struggled in the opening laps, but attrition played its part. Plus, it wasn’t just Vinales who beat the 20-year-old. Acosta’s factory team-mate Brad Binder came home one spot ahead of him.

With Vinales seemingly determined to make a mockery of the notion that the KTM is a hopeless machine, the world is keeping a close watch on Acosta to see if he has a response to what is, for the moment, still just a mini-slump.

Photos from Spanish GP – Race