Bezzecchi wins Valencia GP to give Aprilia back-to-back wins for first time

Marco Bezzecchi led from start to finish to take the chequered flag at MotoGP's season finale at the Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday to give Aprilia back-to-back victories for the first time.

Bezzecchi had delivered a commanding lights-to-flag victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix last weekend and the Italian repeated his heroics in Valencia, celebrating by getting down on one knee and proposing to his beloved bike.

Raul Fernandez of Trackhouse finished second to give Aprilia a one-two finish while Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46 Racing stole third from KTM's Pedro Acosta at the end to ensure a Ducati bike finished on the podium once again.

The Circuit Ricardo Tormo was hosting a MotoGP race for the first time since 2023 after last year's season finale was moved due to catastrophic floods in the region that killed more than 200 people.

"I had a lot of fun, I have to be honest, especially in the end because Raul was super fast, super close and always getting closer lap by lap. So it was tough," Bezzecchi said moments after crowd-surfing on Aprilia's mechanics.

"But very, very happy super satisfied about the job from the guys. I can't hope for a better way to finish the season and now we are going to celebrate for sure. But Tuesday, we start (testing for) 2026."

WARM-UP LAP DRAMA

There was drama at the end of the warm-up lap when Franco Morbidelli was forced to retire before the start of the race after he lost concentration and collided with Aleix Espargaro on the grid, fracturing his left hand as he fell over.

When the lights went out, polesitter Bezzecchi had a superb launch to take the lead into turn one ahead of sprint winner Alex Marquez while Di Giannantonio was in third.

Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia's miserable season came to