Bagnaia Triumphs at Japanese GP – Acosta Crashes Again
Francesco Bagnaia secures his first win at the Japanese Grand Prix as Martin & Marquez complete the podium after another Acosta crash.
Manu González made his mark in Thailand. Kicking off the 2025 Moto2 season in style, the Spaniard delivered a flawless weekend – topping practice, securing pole, and cruising to a dominant victory on Sunday.
His only real challenge came from Celestino Vietti, but after initially battling with him, González pulled ahead as Vietti crashed out following contact with Senna Agius.
That left the Madrid-born rider to take the win ahead of Aron Canet, who recovered from a poor start, and Agius, who overcame a long-lap penalty to snatch the final podium spot from Diogo Moreira.
At lights out, González didn’t get the best of starts, allowing Vietti to jump into the lead. Canet struggled off the line, losing ground to Agius, Darryn Binder, and Izan Guevara – who gained six places in the opening corners.
However, both Binder and Guevara were soon hit with double Long Lap Penalties for jump starts. Further back, Jorge Navarro suffered an early crash, ending his race prematurely.
Weather conditions at the Chang International Circuit remained brutal, with scorching temperatures affecting riders throughout the weekend, just as they had in Moto3. Several riders admitted to struggling with the heat, as air temperatures peaked at 37°C.
Up front, Vietti and González immediately engaged in a fight for the lead, repeatedly swapping positions in a duel that ultimately prevented them from breaking away. It was González who eventually gained the upper hand, making a move stick and taking control of the race.
With Agius sticking close, the Top 3 built a gap of over a second on Canet and Moreira, with the Brazilian rider starting to pile pressure on the Fantic rider.
As the race entered its second phase, González raised the pace. Lapping consistently in the mid-1:35s, he started pulling away from Vietti, opening up a 1.5-second gap with 11 laps to go.
Meanwhile, Agius built a similar buffer over Canet and Moreira, who themselves had distanced the rest of the field.
The race seemed to be settling down – until the drama erupted. Agius, seeing an opportunity to pass Vietti, went for an overly ambitious move. The aggressive attempt ended in disaster, with Agius making contact and sending Vietti tumbling out of the race.
Canet and Moreira took advantage of the chaos to overtake the Australian and move into podium contention. Now running fourth, Agius was handed a long-lap penalty.
At the front, Gonzalez cruised to a comfortable first dry-race win, securing the full 25 points for the Intact GP team with Canet finishing the race 2nd.
CONTACT 💥 Agius and Vietti come together and the Italian is down #ThaiGP 🇹🇭 pic.twitter.com/vDy24WtB49
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 2, 2025
Having served his penalty without losing another position, Agius reeled in Moreira for a thrilling scrap in the closing three laps.
Although his pace had dropped off significantly, Moreira fought hard to stay in podium contention but was ultimately unable to keep Agius behind.
Rounding out the points were Marcos Ramírez, Barry Baltus, Jake Dixon, Daniel Holgado, Filip Salac, Alonso López, Albert Arenas, Deniz Öncü, Tony Arbolino, Adrián Huertas, and Mario Aji.
Meanwhile, reigning Moto3 champion David Alonso endured a tough start to his Moto2 campaign, finishing down in 21st.
