The under-the-radar MotoGP riders to keep an eye on

The 2025 MotoGP season has many hotly-anticipated storylines to keep track of, with the new Ducati pairing of Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, and current champion Jorge Martin’s unfortunate start, now sitting out the opening two rounds due to injury, at the forefront.

But there are others outside of 2024’s top three to look out for, a key example being rookie-no-more Pedro Acosta. The Spanish rider wowed many with his debut MotoGP campaign last year, producing five podiums and a sixth-placed championship finish.

He’s still to claim his maiden victory, some errors costing him that chance last year. But TNT Sports MotoGP presenter Suzi Perry and pundit Neil Hodgson believe Acosta has the mettle to prove victorious.

While Hodgson sees the title fight as a “two-horse race” between Marquez and Bagnaia, he does believe the 20-year-old Acosta is “absolutely world champion material”.

Hodgson also thinks Acosta will reach the top step this season, telling Autosport: “You saw what he achieved in his very first year on a MotoGP bike, which is always a big step up to the big class.

“So I have to believe that there’s room for him to improve still. It’s not like that’s his absolute limit.”

Perry also praised Acosta, saying: “I think it was an amazing year for Pedro, we saw glimpses of what he can do on that bike. And yes, we saw lots of mistakes, because he kept pushing the bike beyond the limit. But that’s what your first year is there for.”

When it comes to taking his first victory, she said: “He has to put it all together and get those results. If he gets pole position, convert it to a race win, and that’s obviously the hope.

“Acosta is insanely talented, and he absolutely deserves to be up there.”

However, Acosta’s team KTM has been struggling financially and creditors have recently approved a restricting plan, so as a result will likely be behind in its bike development.

“How much the woes of what’s happened with KTM will affect their race team is yet to be seen,” said Perry. “I’m very happy that they’re turning up on the grid and we’ve got them, but I think it’s really early to make any kind of prediction about where they will be speed-wise and the consistency.

“You have to think they probably will be struggling with the space race, effectively, of the 2025 season.”

Hodgson also said that Acosta’s character could aid his future success: “Not only is he an incredible rider, he’s a great personality. He’s got something to say.

“I think he’s got so much potential to deal with big rivalries with other people and call them out, and it’s what the sport needs, really. Sometimes it can make it a bit more interesting. If everyone gets along, it can get a little bit boring.”

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

When asked to pick a more surprise storyline, Hodgson put forward Gresini’s Alex Marquez, Marc Marquez’s younger brother.

He said: “He won the Moto3 world championship, he won the Moto2 world championship. Both times he won those world titles – it took him a while. He was never the rider who jumped on a bike, rode it to the limit.

“That’s what I’m seeing now in MotoGP. In pre-season testing, it’s like it’s all just started to come to him and he was very, very fast.”

Alex Marquez placed high up in the winter tests in Barcelona, Sepang, and Thailand – and ended Friday practice of the opening round on top as well. This has given Hodgson confidence the younger Marquez’s results are promising.

“The fastest man in pre-season testing looked like Marc, and I’d say probably Alex was second fastest overall,” he said.

“A lot of people probably aren’t expecting Marc’s younger brother to be up there in the mix, but how cool would it be to have both Marquez’s battling for the MotoGP world title?

“The hardest two-wheel championship there is, and you could have two people from the same family going head-to-head.”

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Perry’s choice was Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo. The 2021 champion and 2022 runner-up hasn’t won a race in two seasons, marred by his team’s underperformance with its M1 machine.

But with Yamaha showing stronger this winter, with Quartararo in particular consistently placing inside the top 10 in pre-season testing, Perry can see a resurgence: “It might sound strange, but I feel like the Yamahas have done a lot of work, they’ve injected a lot of money into their campaign. They’ve got two teams this year, which will help them a lot.

“So I think look out for particularly Fabio Quartararo, I think he’s got his mojo back, and it would be really terrific to see him battling at the front and getting podiums again.”

Watch all the action from the 2025 MotoGP season live on TNT Sports and discovery+ starting with the Thailand Grand Prix on Friday 28th February. TNT Sports and discovery+ is the home of motorbikes with coverage of every race from MotoGP, FIM World Superbikes, Bennetts British Superbikes and FIM Speedway GP. Follow @tntsportsbikes to keep up with all the action on social.