The 2025 MotoGP season reaches its dramatic finale this weekend. The field descends on Valencia, and Friday’s running delivers exactly the mix of pace, unpredictability, and storyline twists fitting for a season-ender.
Practice rolled out under brighter skies and warmer temperatures than the morning session. The riders wasted no time probing the limits of a circuit that has so often shaped MotoGP history.
A Mix Of Triumphs And Crashes
Marco Bezzecchi arrived as the most recent race winner after triumphing in Portugal, while Pedro Acosta and Álex Márquez carried strong momentum from consecutive podiums. Yet the early narrative belonged to Jack Miller, who topped a jumbled FP1 order with a late charge on fresh tyres, ahead of surprise contenders Ai Ogura and wildcard Aleix Espargaró. Behind them, Augusto Fernández impressed early on the Yamaha V4 before a crash at Turn 6 halted his progress.
The afternoon brought both clarity and chaos. Bezzecchi set the initial benchmark before a low-speed fall at Turn 4, and Fabio Quartararo’s session was disrupted by a visible technical issue on the front straight. Ogura suffered a fast fall at Turn 3, walking away safe but losing crucial time.
Time Attack Experiments Begin
As the clock ticked under 25 minutes, the field switched to time-attack mode. Espargaró briefly surged into the top five, and then Acosta detonated the lap time of the day. Bezzecchi later trimmed that gap to just 0.053s, but the tone had been set: Acosta was the rider to beat. By the time the flag fell, the KTM rookie led the standings ahead of Bezzecchi and Franco Morbidelli.
Further down the order, the weekend grows more complicated for several big names. Francesco Bagnaia, who was a previous Valencia winner, ended outside the top ten and will have to battle through Q1 on Saturday.
The emotional subplots continue to add weight to an already charged day. Miguel Oliveira embarks on his final MotoGP weekend before moving to WorldSBK, and Marc Márquez remains sidelined as Nicolo Bulega once again fills in.
With Acosta leading the charge and the field tightly packed behind him, Valencia is shaping up for a finale that could redefine the final chapter of 2025.