Five MotoGP riders who need a big 2025

The 2025 MotoGP grid is one of the most stacked in recent times, with 15 premier class grands prix winners lining up for the season ahead.

There is a good spread of top talent across all five manufacturers too, with several high-profile moves taking place - including Marc Marquez to the factory Ducati squad, 2024 world champion Jorge Martin to Aprilia and Maverick Vinales to KTM.

But there are a few names who come into 2025 needing to prove a point, whether they be for contract situations or other reasons.

Crash looks at five riders who need a big year this season.

Jack Miller - Pramac Yamaha

The 2025 season will mark Miller’s 10th year in the premier class. And after a lacklustre final season with KTM, the Australian’s extended stay with a return to Pramac for its Yamaha switch has been a somewhat fortunate fluke of geography.

Remember, there were several rookie names in the frame for the second Pramac seat - including Sergio Garcia, who was ultimately denied because of his Spanish passport.

Miller being Australian isn’t the sole reason he’ll be making a return to Pramac. The 29-year-old has race wins on his scorecard and a vast amount of experience that will be very valuable to Yamaha.

But he’s had one win in the last three seasons, while he ended 2024 with no podiums and a best grand prix result of fifth twice. He was also 204 points adrift of team-mate Brad Binder. Miller was hit harder than most by the vibration issues KTM suffered as a result of Michelin’s 2024 rear tyre.

But Binder and Pedro Acosta proved there were strong results to be had on the RC16, and Miller came up well short.

With just a one-year deal in his back pocket for 2025, and more young guns waiting in the wings in Moto2 for their shot, this season feels make or break for Miller.

While his primary goal will be to push the development of the M1 along, there will be an expectation for results if his stablemates start delivering. If that doesn’t happen, the lack of space on the 2026 grid could well see Miller squeezed out.

Franco Morbidelli - VR46 Ducati

Reasonably, Franco Morbidelli is probably the least at risk of losing his seat for 2026. Unless Celestino Vietti has a breakout campaign in Moto2, the VR46 Academy doesn’t have anyone lined up as MotoGP ready, while it remains to be seen if Ducati has anyone  it would like to promote.

But, at 30 years old and coming into his eighth season in MotoGP, Morbidelli is at risk of being considered as simply making up the numbers.

Since winning three grands prix in 2020 and finishing runner-up in the championship, it’s all been downhill for Morbidelli. The ageing Yamaha package he had for the start of 2021 did him no favours, before a leg injury set him back. When he returned, he was on a factory spec Yamaha that he never really got to grips with.

A best of fourth in his two-and-a-bit seasons at the factory Yamaha team was all he had to show for his efforts. He earned a plum factory Ducati seat at Pramac for 2024, but a pre-season concussion complicated his adaptation. 

While on the back foot for the first half of 2024, Morbidelli showed flashes of speed - like leading in Germany, his sprint podium at the San Marino GP and a podium challenge before crashing a day later.

But given his machinery advantage, Morbidelli should have had a few more podiums in the second half of the season. VR46 having a spare seat ensured Morbidelli was going nowhere, but you can’t view that as anything more than fortunate.

If the step between the GP24 and GP25 isn’t as big as it was last year, Morbidelli has to make use of that advantage in the early rounds to get back to the level we know he is capable of.

Brad Binder - KTM

Now, Binder does have a contract with KTM to the end of 2026. But, for two reasons, he makes this list.

The first is the general uncertainty that hangs over the Austrian manufacturer right now amid its financial crisis and restructuring process. If the KTM project implodes and can’t be saved, there are four top names looking for rides on a grid of limited spaces - and it’s not unreasonable to say that Pedro Acosta has priority over the rest.

Binder has been a consistent runner for KTM since he stepped into MotoGP, and last year was no different. While his only podiums came at the opening round of the campaign, consistent top eights and only two non-scores in grands prix he started, helped KTM to second in the constructors championship.

He also ended the year as top KTM runner, but only by two points over rookie Acosta. And as far as getting the absolute best out of the RC16, Acosta more often than not did that - even if his conversion rate needs work.

Arguably, 2025 is the first year in MotoGP that Binder has a team-mate to genuinely rival him. So, for the first time, we’ll get to see Binder properly tested. But as a result, a question that hasn’t really been answered yet will be: just how good is Brad Binder?

While his situation is not as critical as some others on the grid, the trajectory of his career may well hinge on how he stacks up as Acosta’s team-mate in 2025.

Luca Marini - Honda

Marini is out of sync with most factory contracts, with his two-year Honda deal running to the end of 2025.

Now, Honda doesn’t have a long line of riders chapping on its door about riding for it right now. But that is a moving target as it continues to develop its way back up the grid. If it can do that more in 2025, it could look to snag a slightly bigger name to join its ranks.

Right now, with all of the problems facing KTM, there is a lot of chatter about Acosta being a firm target. And, of course, why wouldn’t Honda explore that avenue? Joan Mir, despite his struggles, has signed on to the end of 2026 while Johann Zarco is almost certain to get an extension given his form in 2024.

Marini didn’t score any points for the first eight rounds, and that would have extended to nine had it not been for a penalty pushing him up to 15th. He went four more rounds without scoring before legitimately getting on the board at the Emilia Romagna GP.

While his form in the second half of the year was better, he still finished last in the standings among the full-time runners.

Expecting miracles as Marc Marquez’s Honda replacement was unfair. But there is a certain level factory riders need to get to, and Marini needs to show that in 2025 to keep his career going.

Francesco Bagnaia - Ducati

Bagnaia’s seat is under no pressure. He has a contract to the end of 2026, and based on current form Ducati would have to find a very, very good reason to not carry on with the double world champion beyond this point.

But he is facing the toughest test of his MotoGP career, with Marc Marquez stepping into the factory Ducati garage in 2025.

Bagnaia comes into the new season having won 11 grands prix in 2024, but missed out on the title to Jorge Martin by 10 points having also registered eight non-scores. Mistakes have been a big part of Bagnaia’s season over the last few years, but that will be tested to its limits with Marquez as a team-mate.

Having taken an ageing GP23 to three victories in his first campaign on a Ducati, there is little doubt about the pressure Marquez is going to put on Bagnaia.

The balance of power already shifted when Marquez’s powerplay to get that factory Ducati seat came off. Not coming into 2025 as the reigning world champion has further complicated things for Bagnaia.

There is no doubting Bagnaia’s speed and his standing as one of the grid’s best at the moment. But Marquez on equal machinery will test this to the extreme. Whatever happens, it will likely come to define his career…