Two non-Ducati riders delivered the biggest MotoGP 2025 turnarounds

Marco Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta delivered the biggest points turnarounds of the 2025 MotoGP season.

Bezzecchi, in his debut season as a factory Aprilia rider, produced a 93-point swing between the first and second halves of the championship.

The Italian scored more points than any other rider during he final eleven rounds to rise from sixth to third in the final standings.

But the biggest transformation belonged to KTM’s Pedro Acosta, who more than doubled his first-half tally – 99 points vs 208 – as he rocketed from a low of 13th after COTA to fourth in the final standings.

Acosta scored 208 points after the summer break, second only to Bezzecchi’s 223, to gain four championship places from Germany. 

Joan Mir, who took his first Honda podiums at Motegi and Sepang, was the only rider to equal Acosta’s four-position gain in the second half.

New world champion Marc Marquez’s injury absence enhanced the points-scoring opportunities for his rivals in the final four events.

However, factory Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia still suffered a brutal 106-point drop during the second half, despite race victories at Motegi (2) and Sepang (1).

Bagnaia was ranked only twelfth for points scored in the second half of the season, costing the double MotoGP champion the third place he had held in the standings after Germany, ultimately finishing fifth.

Meanwhile, the next biggest second-half points improver after Bezzecchi and Acosta was Trackhouse Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez.

Fernandez improved by 70 points and three places in the second half of the season, highlighted by victory at Phillip Island and second to Bezzecchi at Valencia, to be the sixth-highest points scorer after Germany.

Rookie Fermin Aldeguer was the fifth-highest second-half scorer, aided by a debut victory at Mandalika, but only rose one place in the final world championship ranking.

HRC’s Luca Marini was the fourth highest improver in the second half, at 46 extra points, but missed three first-half rounds due to injury.

Injury absences also caused Tech3 KTM’s Maverick Vinales to drop 66 points and seven places relative to this first-half performance.

However, LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco, who attended every race, slipped 60 points behind his first half achievements.

The Frenchman would have been ranked 15th on second-half points alone, costing him five world championship places, but he hung on to top-Honda and twelfth overall by six points over Marini.