The first MotoGP race weekend of 2025 is complete! This season, I’m going to be looking at every race weekend and giving my views on the following categories – Rider of the Weekend (not necessarily the rider who left the weekend with the most points, but somebody who really impressed), Most Improved (either throughout the course of the weekend, or from one weekend to another), Best Overtake (this one feels obvious), Head-in-Hands Moment (a moment from either the Sprint or the Sunday race that left me shouting “NO!” at the screen), and Best in Show (the overall best rider from the weekend).

Rider of the Weekend: For me, it absolutely has to be Ai Ogura. Making it straight through to Q2 and qualifying in 5th for your first MotoGP race, on a satellite Aprilia, had me impressed already. But managing to convert that grid position to a 4th place finish in the Sprint, and a 5th place finish in the Sunday race? Fantastic.

Most Improved: Going from qualifying down in 20th, and finishing 18th in the Sprint to then ending Sunday’s race in 9th, Enea Bastianini took a worrying first half of the weekend and turned it around.

Best Overtake: Ogura’s first lap round-the-outside pass on Jack Miller and Franco Morbidelli in the Sprint – what a way to start your first racing lap in MotoGP.

Head-in-Hands Moment: There were several moments over the weekend that could have been my pick, but I’m going with Joan Mir’s crash during the race on Sunday. The race was Mir’s 100th in MotoGP, and he was running in 7th before he crashed out on Lap 16. The idea of him securing a top 10 race finish on this landmark GP was one I was holding onto tightly. Still, the fact that Mir was in 7th is reason enough to celebrate, considering his 2024 season.

Best in Show: How could I not say Marc Marquez? He’s had the dream weekend – qualifying on pole, then securing wins in both the Sprint and the Sunday race. His pace was amazing, and his tactics during the GP to avoid tyre pressure infringements were a masterclass in shaping your race to stay within the rules. Even when his brother was leading the race, it still felt as though Marc was the one in control.