Did Aprilia expect Raul Fernandez MotoGP victory contention? “Not really”

A victory and a second place in two of the final four grands prix of the 2025 MotoGP season for Raul Fernandez came as a “big surprise” to Aprilia.

Fernandez contested his fourth season in the premier class this year, and his third with the Trackhouse team (having also contested the 2023 season under its previous RNF banner), his best finish having been a sixth place in the 2023 Valencia Grand Prix.

From the middle of the 2025 season, though, there were signs of improvement from Fernandez, who was inside the top-10 in six of the last seven races before the summer break.

After MotoGP returned after the summer in Austria, there was a small dip in form between Hungary and San Marino where he was not in the top-10, but shortly after came a maiden Sprint podium in Indonesia.

Two weeks later, he was second in the Australia Sprint and won the grand prix the next day, and then took another grand prix podium to end the season in Valencia.

For Aprilia Racing Technical Director Fabiano Sterlacchini, Fernandez’s performance at the end of the 2025 season was not something to be expected.

“To be honest, not really,” said Sterlacchini, speaking after the Valencia test on 18 November.

“He’s a super-talented rider, that is quite clear – he showed, also in the previous seasons in the other categories. 

“Clearly one of the difficult things in MotoGP is how much is complicated the project, and in the way that you have to address a lot of aspects: to set the engine brake, the traction control, the braking, the stopping, the choice of the tyre, the managing of the tyre. 

“To be honest, in the way that he was working, I was expecting that– okay, he has the speed, but not to manage the race at the level that he did here, but also for example in Phillip Island. 

“So, he’s our asset, so we are more than happy to have this big surprise.”

Bezzecchi: Fernandez speed “good to see, more for the engineers”

For Aprilia in general, Fernandez’s pace at the end of the season meant it had two riders competing at the front even in Jorge Martin’s absence, since Marco Bezzecchi was also able to show strong speed throughout the second half of the year, culminating in two race wins in Portugal and Valencia.

Fernandez’s Australia win was probably one that Bezzecchi should’ve had as well, were it not for his double long lap penalty for the crash with Marc Marquez on the first lap in Indonesia.

The final round in Valencia was the first time the two really battled on-track in a grand prix, and for Bezzecchi this was additional proof of the good job Aprilia has done in 2025.

“It’s positive because it means that we made a good job together with the team, together with the engineers,” Bezzecchi said after the Valencia test.

“Of course, this is a track where also Raul [Fernandez] is super-quick, so it was good to see him fast – more, for sure, for the engineers than for me because during the race we had the fight! I’m joking, it’s positive.”