Friday saw an incredibly close grid – with only 1.3 seconds separating everyone. Following months of development and racing, the riders are as close as they can be as they face the final qualifying session in Valencia. As the pack battled one last time, it was Aprilia Racing and Marco Bezzecchi who grabbed the final pole position of 2025.

Raúl Fernández Quickest in Q1

Despite Francesco Bagnaia finding pace overnight, his struggles continued throughout Q1. Sitting P2 and looking to advance, with three minutes remaining he pulled over onto the gravel. What was wrong with his bike it unknown but it halted his progress and once again, he’ll start from the back of the grid.

Whilst it was a relatively clean session, wildcard rider Augusto Fernández had a minor crash at Turn 8 early on. Luckily, he was okay and he was able to quickly return to the track. He finished ahead of Somkiat Chantra and will start from P23.

Returning champion Jorge Martín was still adapting to being on the bike. However, he showed glimpses of his uninjured self as he consistently had pace in sector one. He starts the final race of the year P17 – next to championship rival from 2024, Bagnaia.

It was Raúl Fernández though who topped the session and advanced to Q2. With a 1:29.036, his time was untouchable as he was thousands of seconds away from the all time lap record. Johann Zarco joined Fernández in advancing.

Bezzecchi Takes Pole Position

Pedro Acosta started Q2 how he finished practice – at the top. He set the first quick lap of the session and whilst it was a competitive time – he was soon surpassed. Álex Márquez went even quicker than the young Spaniard – setting a rapid lap time of 1:28.967.

Marco Bezzecchi had a minor issue at the start as he lost grip and ran wide in Turn 2. He didn’t let it affect him though. When the second runs started coming, it was the #72 who flew up to the top, showing how good the Aprilia is with its one lap pace.

Times were tumbling in the final moments of Q2 and less than a tenth covered the top five. With his impressive Q1 time, Fernández was still improving and was fighting for pole. However, as the session drew to a close, the tires started to fail and no one could improve.

Setting a new all time lap record of 1:28.809, Bezzecchi took the final pole position. He’s joined by Márquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio on the front row. With overtaking being a challenge at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Bezzecchi is one step closer to yet another victory. Can anyone challenge him in the race?