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 \u201cbig surprise\u201d to Aprilia.<\/p>\n
Fernandez<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n After MotoGP<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n For Aprilia Racing<\/a> Technical Director Fabiano Sterlacchini, Fernandez\u2019s performance at the end of the 2025 season was not something to be expected.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, not really,\u201d said Sterlacchini, speaking after the Valencia test on 18 November.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a super-talented rider, that is quite clear \u2013 he showed, also in the previous seasons in the other categories.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cClearly 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, in the way that he was working, I was expecting that\u2013 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n \u201cSo, he\u2019s our asset, so we are more than happy to have this big surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n Bezzecchi: Fernandez speed \u201cgood to see, more for the engineers\u201d<\/p>\n For Aprilia in general, Fernandez\u2019s pace at the end of the season meant it had two riders competing at the front even in Jorge Martin<\/a>\u2019s absence, since Marco Bezzecchi<\/a> was also able to show strong speed throughout the second half of the year, culminating in two race wins in Portugal and Valencia.<\/p>\n