It\u2019s a race to the chequered flag split between six races in MotoGP\u2019s European heartland and four \u2018flyaways\u2019, including the much-anticipated Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island (October 17-19), and one where there\u2019s still plenty of intrigue despite Marc Marquez enjoying a whopping 120-point championship lead after 12 of 22 rounds. <\/p>\n
MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n
RIDE TO SURVIVE?<\/a> F1 cult hero\u2019s new move could spark copycat series after takeover<\/p>\n \u2018A SHOW OF FAITH\u2019 <\/a> Why Aussie\u2019s hard yards for Yamaha might be about to pay dividends<\/p>\n Storylines abound up and down the grid as MotoGP heads to \u2013 no misprint \u2013 the least successful circuit of Marquez\u2019s MotoGP career; the Spanish great is yet to win in Austria in eight attempts, offering a temporary crumb of comfort for his rivals this weekend. <\/p>\n Our pick of the plots still to play out? These.<\/p>\n Marc Marquez\u2019s dominance of 2025 means he could win the title before the series heads out of Europe for its flyaway rounds. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n MARQUEZ\u2019S CROWNING MOMENT<\/p>\n There\u2019s no such thing as a sure thing in MotoGP \u2013 but Marquez\u2019s seventh premier-class world title is as good as any. <\/p>\n The marriage of the sport\u2019s best rider and its best bike has had predictable results in 2025<\/a>, with the factory Ducati rider winning eight of 12 Grands Prix and a ridiculous 11 of 12 sprints so far in 2025, his advantage heading into the season\u2019s not-quite second half the equivalent of over three perfect 37-point event hauls with 10 rounds still to play out. <\/p>\n When might Marquez wrap up the title that has eluded him since 2019? Nearest title rival \u2013 and younger brother \u2013 Alex Marquez has enjoyed by far his best MotoGP season in 2025<\/a>, but wobbles in two of the final three races before the break have spoiled his otherwise metronomic campaign, and forced MotoGP watchers into pulling up the calculator on their phones to run the championship-clinching numbers. <\/p>\n The younger Marquez scored just nine points in Assen in round 10, and then zero in the final event before the break at Brno after becoming the latest rider to skittle the luckless Joan Mir<\/a> in a race. <\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: The big questions from Liberty Media\u2019s purchase of MotoGP with MotoGP reporter Simon Patterson. Listen to Pit Talk below.<\/p>\n After Marc Marquez outscored his sibling by just 18 points across the British, Aragon and Italian Grands Prix, Alex\u2019s stumble across the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic trio of rounds that immediately followed saw him ship 80 points to Marc in just three weekends<\/a>. <\/p>\n All of which means Marc Marquez could wrap up the title even before MotoGP leaves Europe after the next four rounds in Austria, Hungary, Catalunya and San Marino; should he outscore his brother by 92 points over that quartet of events, the crown will be his even before he heads to Japan for the first of those flyaways from September 26-28. <\/p>\n It\u2019s an improbable outcome, but one that\u2019s now certainly in play. <\/p>\n MILLER\u2019S MOTOGP FATE<\/p>\n While Marquez\u2019s world championship is a story that\u2019ll crystallise slowly, the future of Australia\u2019s Jack Miller looks likely to be settled in a much shorter time frame<\/a>. <\/p>\n The 30-year-old is the only one of Yamaha\u2019s four riders not to have a deal with the Japanese manufacturer for 2026, but Yamaha hasn\u2019t announced the identity of its final rider for next year despite Yamaha Motor Racing managing director Paolo Pavesio indicating the factory would make a call on either Miller or his Pramac teammate Miguel Oliveira before the mid-season break began. <\/p>\n Miller has consistently been Yamaha\u2019s second-best rider in 2025. (Yamaha Motor Racing Srl)Source: Supplied<\/p>\n So what gives? With Miller the second-best Yamaha rider in the standings and coming off a second-place finish for the manufacturer in the revered Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race<\/a> during the break, it seems ludicrous to think Yamaha would jettison Miller to keep the underperforming Oliveira, who has a deal for 2026 that has, crucially, an option on Yamaha\u2019s side. <\/p>\n With Alex Rins continuing to struggle at Yamaha\u2019s factory team alongside the brand\u2019s shining light, 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo, there remains an increasing possibility that Miller ends up as the Frenchman\u2019s teammate for next year, with plenty of paddock speculation linking Moto2 rising star Diogo Moreira to a berth with Pramac Yamaha<\/a> alongside already-confirmed World Superbikes star Toprak Razgatlioglu in an all-new, all-rookie line-up for the final season of MotoGP\u2019s current regulations. <\/p>\n For everyone concerned \u2013 Miller, Rins, Oliveira, Moreira, Yamaha, the sport\u2019s fans \u2013 this game of rider market musical chairs needs to be resolved, and soon. <\/p>\n Don\u2019t be surprised if the music stops sooner rather than later, and Miller is seated when it does. <\/p>\n MARTIN\u2019S ROAD BACK TO THE TOP<\/p>\n It\u2019s been quite the year for reigning world champion Jorge Martin, who made headlines for reasons that were almost exclusively nothing to do with racing<\/a> for Aprilia in the first 12 rounds of the year before his moderately successful (and injury-free) return at Brno in the final round before the break.<\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n MOTOGP\u2019S CRASH KING<\/a> The rankings no rider wants to top, and the context behind former champ\u2019s brutal luck<\/p>\n RISERS AND FALLERS <\/a> The biggest MotoGP winners (and losers) in 2025, so far<\/p>\n That story of joy, pain, controversies and hurt feelings has been told time and time again; what\u2019s of more interest for the final 10 rounds is how soon the hard-charging Spaniard can get back to being his best self on what is clearly MotoGP\u2019s second-best bike, and if he can be the one rider to deny Ducati a clean sweep of the rest of 2025. <\/p>\n Aprilias improving form and a committed – for now – Martin could lead to wins in the rest of 2025. (Aprilia Racing Press)Source: Supplied<\/p>\n Ducati riders have won 10 of 12 Grands Prix and all 12 sprints so far in 2025, but given the recent form of Martin\u2019s factory Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi in recent rounds \u2013 the Italian has a win and multiple podiums in both race formats over the past six events \u2013 one wonders what Martin might do with the RS-GP late in the season, and if he can salvage something from a title defence that stalled at the start line between now and Valencia. <\/p>\n You\u2019d have to squint \u2013 hard \u2013 to find a way for KTM, Honda and Yamaha to win for the rest of 2025, but a fully-fit Martin with zero consideration of championship position could be a force the longer the season goes. <\/p>\n Australia \u2013 where he\u2019s been Phillip Island\u2019s fastest man for the past three years without any silverware to show for it \u2013 could end up being his best bet to temporarily halt the Marquez juggernaut. <\/p>\n HANDS UP WHO CAN BE THE LEAST PATIENT?<\/p>\n If you\u2019re someone who fancies themselves as an amateur body language expert, keep an eye on the factory Yamaha and KTM garages the longer the calendar goes. <\/p>\n Season 2025 hasn\u2019t worked out the way either Fabio Quartararo or Pedro Acosta would have liked, and while both riders are tethered to their teams for next season, a downturn in already so-so results will see plenty of eye-rolling at best, and barely-concealed contempt at worst. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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