Raul Fernandez is officially the MotoGP winner after taking his first surprise victory at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.
The Trackhouse rider has been underwhelming for the better part of his four years in the premier class, but he showed great promise in Moto2 in 2021.
Raul Fernandez, who had only finished in the top five twice before, took advantage of two pre-race long-lap penalties against favorite winner Marco Bezzecchi to take control of the 27-lap grand prix.
MotoGP has had seven winners this season, three of whom are first-time winners.
As the threat to Ducati increased, Aprilia was quick again, while Marc Marquez’s absence was felt by Ducati’s factory team.
This and more is discussed in the latest Crash MotoGP podcast.
Crash MotoGP editor-in-chief Peter McLaren said of Aprilia’s performance against Ducati: “The last two races have gone really well.” “They really worked out the peaks and troughs that RS-GP had, and the riders stepped up and made the most of it. Raul got injured at the Sepang test for the last two years and earlier this year. And then his rookie teammate came in, but he was too fast in the first round and was a bit unstable. He was the only one with experience in Aprilia, so that must have been tough for him to take.” So we were all hoping this was his chance…”