It’s a measure of how impatient we are for the 2025 MotoGP season to get going that I am writing this preview before the teams have even revealed their liveries, let alone conducted any meaningful tests so we can get some idea of which way the wind is blowing. There are a lot of new team/rider combinations, with very few teams remaining as they were at the end of 2024, so we enter 2025 with a lot of unknown factors.
The biggest shocks must surely be the defection of Jorge Martin from Ducati (Pramac) to the factory Aprilia team, and Marc Marquez’s promotion to the factory Ducati squad alongside two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia.
If Ducati had opted for anyone other than Marquez in 2025 over 2024 champion Martin, then it would have been a hugely controversial move on team manager Gigi Dall’Igna’s part. As it was, Martin felt betrayed by the factory Ducati squad, having finished second to Bagnaia in 2023 and taking the title in 2024 and feeling he was a shoo-in for the second factory seat, never mind the fact that, had he stayed with Pramac (and had that team stayed with Ducati instead of changing to Yamaha), he would have been guaranteed a fully up-to-date GP25. Ducati’s loss is definitely Aprilia’s gain but can that team give Martin the goods to fight at the front?
As it is, Ducati has a massively strong line-up, with Bagnaia and Marquez. What Marquez achieved on a year-old GP23 in 2024 was nothing short of miraculous, especially when no other rider of that model got much of a sniff of the podium. Of course, it’s no guarantee that he will gel with the GP25, or that the bike itself will be as dominant as previous iterations but you have to think that the momentum is with Ducati Corse, with perhaps the only real challenge coming from Aprilia.
Of course, that ignores the possibility of KTM, Yamaha and Honda getting their acts together in 2025 but, as much as it pains me to say it, that seems unlikely. For that to happen, we will have to wait until 2027 for the new rules to come into effect.
The financial woes of KTM are well known, so no need to go into them here but it’s hard to see the wisdom of tens of millions being spent on racing when so many staff are being laid off and bikes are sitting unsold. If KTM had been challenging for wins and titles, maybe the expense could be justified, but how much marketing benefit is there in coming sixth, seventh, eighth or worse every weekend? Racing is nothing but hard-nosed and unsentimental so perhaps KTM’s withdrawal would leave the door open for a Suzuki return or even a BMW arrival? One thing is for sure, the grid could really do without losing four bikes (two factory KTMs and two satellite bikes.)
Yamaha finally has four bikes on the grid – two factory and two run by Pramac – obviously hoping that doubling the rider feedback will help drive the development of the M1 in the right direction. However, that hasn’t worked for Honda or KTM so why should it be any different for Yamaha? Much has been made of the impending change to a V4 engine from the last inline-four engine on the grid but surely expecting that alone to propel Yamaha to the front again is wishful thinking?
The factory Yamaha team remains stable, with Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins riding. Prima Pramac Yamaha gains Jack Miller, widely acknowledged to be brilliant at developing bikes, so that will help. He teams up with ex-Trackhouse Aprilia rider Miguel Oliveira, so it’s an all-new team that will hit the tracks in February.
The Factory Honda team also remains stable, with Joan Mir and Luca Marini surely hoping for something much better in 2025 after a dire 2024. The loss of Repsol as title sponsor after 30 years will rob the grid of a familiar sight and many will hope that it’s not the beginning of a descent into obscurity for the long-standing and hugely successful MotoGP manufacturer. You have to hope that that is unlikely but stranger things have happened, and the world market for road motorcycles isn’t looking too healthy at present time, so how long before manufacturers feel that spending millions of dollars on racing is worth it?
LCR Honda retains Johann Zarco and introduces the first of three rookies to step up from Moto2 in the form of Somkiat Chantra. The squad naturally rides on the fortunes of the factory Honda, even though LCR outperformed Repsol Honda in 2024.
As mentioned, the factory Aprilia squad has champion Jorge Martin on its strength, and joining him will be Marco Bezzecchi, fresh from the VR46 team, where he was riding a GP 23. Trackhouse Aprilia will field Raul Fernandez and second rookie Ai Ogura.
The third and final rookie comes in the form of Fermin Aldeguer, who partners Alex Marquez in the Gresini team, riding Ducati GP24s.
VR46 will field Ducati GP24s, ridden by Fabio DiGiannantonio and Franco Morbidelli, who will surely be hoping for a stronger season after his preparations for 2024 were derailed by a bad crash pre-season.
Red Bull KTM Tech 3 has an all-new line-up, with shock signing Maverick Viñales being joined by Enea Bastiannini, who will surely be hoping to make Ducati rue their decision to drop him from the factory squad in favour of Marc Marquez. Whether that will be possible, remains to be seen.
And that leaves the factory KTM team, Brad Binder being joined by rookie sensation Pedro Acosta. The question marks over the manufacturer’s future will no doubt be weighing heavily on the team’s mind but, for me, there is another, more pressing question.
Brad Binder has long been the darling of the KTM team, signing a multi-year deal very early on, which will take him to the end of the 2026 season – should KTM survive that long.
However, along comes Pedro Acosta, who causes a sensation in his first races on a satellite KTM RC16, outscores all the other established KTM riders and scores immediate promotion to the factory team for 2025. He has suddenly become the KTM rider everyone is looking at, perhaps to the exclusion of Binder. How does this sit with the South African? How do you react when a rider with – supposedly – more talent comes along and threatens your position in the team? If Acosta can do in 2025 what he did in 2024, it could be that KTM will find itself punching above its weight in the championship.
Of course, there are many variables; will the 2025 RC16 suit him? Could his input benefit Binder (and vice versa, naturally)? Will neither of them be able to challenge the Ducati dominance? Will Acosta’s presence fire up Binder to greater heights?
As an adopted South African, naturally, I hope that Binder will rise to the challenge and give as good as he gets. Acosta’s arrival might just be the rocket that KTM needs up its arse to start running consistently at the front and if Binder can benefit, then he’d be a fool to resent it.
In the next few weeks, we’ll get the first looks at all the teams in the official tests. Only then will we get some idea of where MotoGP 2025 will be heading and I can’t wait.
