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.
Jack Miller opened the final MotoGP weekend of the season by topping a delayed Free Practice 1 at Valencia, leading a surprise top ten that won’t have been on a lot of MotoGP fans’ bingo cards before the session.
His 1m30.382s, set on fresh medium rubber, put the Prima Pramac Yamaha rider 0.323s clear of Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura, with Honda wildcard Aleix Espargaro completing an already unlikely top three.
The first practice session of the weekend started just like the last one at Portimao ended – with Alex Marquez topping the timing sheet.
The Gresini rider, getting an early taste of Ducati’s GP25 aero package, held on to P1 throughout the opening half.
Two Hondas slotted into the early mix behind him, with Franco Morbidelli briefly lifting himself into the top four and Johann Zarco joining them soon after.
Brad Binder recorded the weekend’s first fall at Turn 8, the KTM rider sliding out without injury.
Fermin Aldeguer had his own interruption with a fall at Turn 4, but the Gresini rider still salvaged 11th just behind Augusto Fernandez, who used his final lap to break into the top ten on the V4 Yamaha.
💥 @Aldeguer54 tucks the front at Turn 4 with less than 5 minutes to go #ValenciaGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/9NIL56xoId
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 14, 2025
Bagnaia endured another awkward start to a Friday. Smoke from his first Ducati, followed by a clutch-related stoppage on his second bike, forced the factory squad into hurried repairs.
Finally getting to rejoin the session, the Italian only managed a best of 1m31.528s, leaving him 21st, over a second from the front.
The decisive final phase belonged to Jack Miller. With fresh medium tyres fitted, he launched himself into P1, at some points being more than half-a-second clear at the top of the standings.
His lap stood unchallenged to the flag, even as Ogura produced a late charge up the order (equally on fresh rubber) – first moving to third, then demoting Espargaro to seize second on his final lap of the session.
Raul Fernandez secured fourth to complete a strong session for Trackhouse. Morbidelli’s early pace held up for fifth. Alex Marquez slipped to sixth, while Joan Mir carried Honda’s factory colours into seventh.
Pedro Acosta, Fabio di Giannantonio, and Augusto Fernandez rounded out the top ten, the latter beating both factory (inline-four) Yamahas – Fabio Quartararo in 14th and Alex Rins in 15th.
The result offered an early, tangible sign that the V4 development path may already be yielding some performance gains, even though it’s still low on power and top-end speed.
