Barcelona MotoGP Rider Ratings: Awful scores for two Aprilia riders

Here's our rider ratings after the Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP - with five riders getting below a five.

Francesco Bagnaia - 9

Francesco Bagnaia was essentially perfect in Barcelona. In fact, it was arguably his most flawless weekend of the season. Apart from the weird FP1 start practice crash at turn one, he barely made a mistake all weekend. He controlled the Sprint perfectly, and controlled Marc Marquez similarly so in the Grand Prix on a rear tyre that after Saturday no one seriously considered as a race option.

But, he loses his 10 because he started Sunday as a World Champion and ended it as a former World Champion. There wasn’t much he could do about it on Sunday, but perhaps that’s the point — it should have never come to that, and it was almost all within his control to prevent it from doing so.

Marc Marquez - 8

Marc Marquez is, by his exceptionally high standards, fairly rubbish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The only time he’s really been dominant there has been when all his rivals took each other out in 2019, and on Saturday in 2016 following the mid-weekend layout change.

It’s strange, really, because you’d think a surface as low-grip as Barcelona’s would make a perfect fit for Marquez’s style.

Anyway, Saturday’s Sprint showed just how ordinary Marquez can be made to look at the Catalan venue, but on Sunday he turned it around and masterfully managed a soft-compound rear tyre to prevent Bagnaia from forgetting that, just because Jorge Martin is heading to Aprilia next season, the 2025 title will not be an easy win for the Italian.

A second place in the final Grand Prix of the season for Marquez really was, as he put it on several occasions after the race, the perfect way for him to end his time with Gresini — plus, he beat Enea Bastianini to third in the championship.

Jorge Martin - 9

Two third places are far below the ordinary benchmark for Jorge Martin to get a nine, but this weekend that was all he needed. He wrapped the title and never looked in danger of throwing it away.

Just as he had been throughout the whole of 2024, Martin was almost entirely unfazed by the pressure of the occasion, and made sure he kept himself in positions that would not endanger his first premier class crown.

Why not a 10? Well, he didn’t win the race!

Alex Marquez - 8

Fourth place for Alex Marquez is about as good as he can hope for when the Desmosedici GP23 is at such an apparent disadvantage to the GP24, and when one of the GP23s is ridden by his esteemed sibling.

It’s below where we know Marquez can be at his very best, and when everything is lined up, but ending the season with two successive fourth places marks a strong conclusion to what has, at times, been an underwhelming second season with Gresini for Marquez.

Aleix Espargaro - 7.5

Aleix Espargaro’s MotoGP career ended with a fifth place, and it was all just a bit… flat.

The cooldown lap on his old 2005 125cc bike on Saturday was pretty cool, and his lap to put him second on the grid in Q2 was outstanding, but his starts were poor and, to be honest, your author here is not a huge fan of the whole ‘helping Martin to the title’ thing.

But, if that’s how he wanted to go out, fair enough, and in the end Martin was far above needing the assistance Espargaro was content to provide.

Brad Binder - 7

KTM’s weekend in Barcelona was a shocker. The bike didn’t turn, qualifying was a disaster, Pedro Acosta had his fairing ripped off on lap one of the Sprint… but Brad Binder still scored a top-six.

It was quite the recovery from Binder in both races. He’s, by now, become fairly well known for this, but 18th-to-ninth in the Sprint followed by 18th-to-sixth in the Grand Prix is impressive even for the South-African.

Binder’s result also meant he beat Acosta to fifth in the riders’ standings, meaning he finishes the year as the top non-Ducati rider, but it also meant he ended a third successive season without a GP victory.

Enea Bastianini - 6.5

If you think about Enea Bastianini in MotoGP you think about saving tyres and coming on strong at the end. You probably don’t think about Sprints, though.

Yet, Bastianini ends his time as a factory Ducati rider with seven successive Sprint podiums thanks to his second place on Saturday. It’s quite impressive, and surprising.

Perhaps his Grand Prix was neither, though. Instead, it was frustrating and disappointing, as Bastianini destroyed his race with a run through the chicane while battling with Aleix Espargaro, and never really recovered.

Not that his presence in the podium battle would have been much help anyway, but he hardly provided much assistance to Bagnaia in the title fight in this finale, and, as Espargaro alluded after the race, finishing seven seconds off the win on a factory Ducati in 2024 is hard to justify.

Franco Morbidelli - 6

Franco Morbidelli will get another season on the Desmosedici GP24, but if his first is anything to go by 2025 is not going to be a thriller from the three-times premier class race winner.

The Italian’s season ended more or less as it has gone throughout: not awful, but also nowhere near the pace of the other GP24s.

Marco Bezzecchi - 6.5

Just behind Morbidelli was the rider he’ll replace at the VR46 team next season: Marco Bezzecchi. A ninth place to end his time with VR46, a team he clearly adores, is probably not what he had in mind for this weekend, and at times the Italian showed potential that looked much better.

However, he was unable to qualify better than the third row, and that more or less ended his chances of fighting for good positions by lunchtime on Saturday.

The good news for Bezzecchi is that, on Tuesday, he will become a factory rider at Aprilia; although teaming up with Jorge Martin — who tallied 32 podiums this season — is probably a fairly daunting prospect for the #72, who managed only one rostrum finish in 2024.

Pedro Acosta - 6

Pedro Acosta reported brake problems after finishing 10th in Barcelona, but the final weekend of his rookie season went pretty much how his end to the season in general has gone.

In comparison with how his 2024 started, where he was a key ingredient in the opening races of the season, Acosta has become more of a side character in the second half of the year.

It’s hard to say that’s been entirely his fault, considering the apparently deepening Ducati domination, but it’s nonetheless been a frustrating end to the season that was more or less typified by this final weekend of the season: DNF in the Sprint after contact on lap one with Marc Marquez, and 10th in the Grand Prix with apparent brake problems.

Fabio Quartararo - 6.5

If Yamaha had seemed to make progress in the flyaway races, the Barcelona race that ended the season did its best to convince everyone otherwise.

Credit to Quartararo, he was excellent in the Sprint to be fighting with the likes of Morbidelli, Marc Marquez, and Bezzecchi — even if he did end up out of the points thanks to a last lap Binder pass.

But, in the Grand Prix, he simply didn’t have the speed, perhaps not helped by the choice of the hard-compound rear tyre that seemingly offered him no advantage at any stage of the 24-lap encounter.

Miguel Oliveira - 6.5

12th place for Miguel Oliveira is a fairly underwhelming way for him to end his time at Trackhouse. On the other hand, it was his first race since September, and he hardly missed a beat — and beat soundly his teammate, Raul Fernandez.

Jack Miller - 4

If KTM’s Barcelona weekend was bad, Jack Miller’s was awful. He literally described his Sprint as “sh*t” in his Saturday media debrief.

Unable to turn and seemingly without rear grip, Miller qualified badly and raced not much better, so not the end to his time at KTM he’d have perhaps liked.

Historically speaking, jumping on a Yamaha should immediately cure those turning problems on Tuesday, but it’s not 2018 anymore.

Johann Zarco - 6.5

Johann Zarco has been one of the best qualifiers in 2024, especially at the end of the season, as he’s been able to repeatedly put the Honda RC213V in Q2.

He did that again on Friday, finishing Practice in fourth place, but that was where his weekend peaked.

Zarco ended his first full season as a Honda rider with a 14th, but clearly as the top-Honda rider, which is where he has established himself.

Maverick Vinales - 3

Maverick Vinales’ Aprilia journey ended in 15th place, 17 seconds behind his factory teammate, Espargaro. In general, it was a pretty woeful race for the Tech3-bound Spaniard.

Luca Marini - 5.5

Luca Marini’s inability to lose his mind at riding the RC213V this year has been one of the most impressive things anyone in MotoGP has done.

Marini’s results, though, have been less impressive, especially compared to Zarco, whom the Italian admitted on Saturday is doing something “unique” to find more lap time on the Honda.

Takaaki Nakagami - 5.5

When Takaaki Nakagami topped MotoGP FP1 on Friday morning in Barcelona, it made that late run on a fresh tyre worth it, because it reminded everyone that he was actually racing.

It seems a shame that Nakagami, who I think is a fairly popular rider, received almost no TV attention whatsoever during the course of the weekend, save that moment at the end of FP1, when the other retiring rider, Espargaro, received so much.

Espargaro, of course, is more accomplished in MotoGP than Nakagami, but the broadcast seemed to let Nakagami drift into his new HRC development role almost undetected, whereas Espargaro’s retirement was almost a central plot point of the weekend.

As for Nakagami’s results — they were fine: 17th in both races.

Raul Fernandez - 3

Raul Fernandez reverted to the 2023 Aprilia aerodynamics this weekend, but seemingly to little avail. The sole 2024 Aprilia rider who will stick with the Noale factory in 2025 managed only 18th in the Grand Prix: 29 seconds off the win; seven seconds behind the, as we put it, woeful Vinales; and 17 seconds behind his teammate, Oliveira. And all at a track where he led laps six months ago in the Catalan Sprint.

Augusto Fernandez - 4

Augusto Fernandez was optimistic arriving in Barcelona, having finished 10th at Sepang two weeks ago. Was it a breakthrough in Malaysia? Or a flash in the pan?

If ‘breakthrough’ was your answer — wrong. Fernandez reverted this weekend to his back-end-of-the-top-20 type this weekend, ending his time as a full-time MotoGP rider in 19th. And that came after one of the most bizarre crashes you’ll ever see with his teammate, Acosta, in FP1 which brought out a red flag.

The only thing more frustrating than Fernandez’s actual season for him this year is probably that, for some reason, Yamaha has still not announced him as a test rider for 2025.

Michele Pirro - 6

Michele Pirro’s main goal this weekend was to warm himself up for Tuesday’s post-race test, so crashing five minutes into FP1 on Friday morning was probably not in his plan.

But, aside from that, he did basically nothing wrong, which is about all you can ask of a replacement rider.

Alex Rins - 2.5

Not a great weekend for Alex Rins, finishing 21st in the race, ahead only of Stefan Bradl after picking up a double long lap penalty for not taking the single long lap penalty he was awarded after cutting the turn 1–2 chicane.

Stefan Bradl - 6

The same as Pirro, pretty much, Bradl was here in anticipation of Tuesday’s test. He wasn’t spectacular, but that’s fine enough — plus, he has a sweet livery on that Team HRC bike.

Joan Mir - 4

Joan Mir ended the Barcelona GP where he has ended a significant number of GPs in his time with Repsol Honda: in the gravel. Vibrations on the rear tyre were a problem for him on Saturday, too, so Mir doesn’t even have a strong Sprint result to fall back on.

He was decent in Q1, though, only bumped out of the two Q2 spots by Fabio Quartararo, which was at least an encouraging sign that Mir still has some speed.