The Italian, who arrived at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo fresh from victory in Portugal, never relinquished control across 27 laps, though Fernandez kept the pressure on to finish just over six-tenths behind.

Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the podium after a late move on Pedro Acosta, extending Ducati’s remarkable run of 88 straight races with at least one podium finish.

After shadowing Acosta in the closing stages, the 27-year-old pounced with two laps remaining and held firm to take third, earning a double podium across the Valencia weekend following on from his third in the Sprint on Saturday.

The race began with a shock when Franco Morbidelli crashed before the lights even went out, striking the back of Aleix Espargaro as the field rolled into grid slots. The Ducati rider suffered a fractured left hand and was immediately ruled out of both the race and Tuesday’s post-season test.

 

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Once racing began, Bezzecchi made the perfect launch as chaos erupted behind. Johann Zarco lost control into Turn 4, collecting Francesco Bagnaia and sending the two-time champion into the gravel for what became his fifth successive retirement. Zarco received a long-lap penalty for the incident.

Fernandez quickly emerged as Bezzecchi’s only real threat, carving through Alex Marquez and closing the gap to as little as four-tenths in the final laps.

Bezzecchi admitted afterwards that the chase was intense but said he ultimately enjoyed it.

“I had a lot of fun… in the end because Raul was super-fast, super close and always getting closer lap by lap. So it was tough,” he said.

“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.”

Jack Miller delivered his best result in 10 rounds, running as high as sixth after an early move on Fermin Aldeguer before finishing ninth, having lost a spot to Brad Binder on the final lap. The result lifted the Queenslander to 17th in the championship standings.

Aldeguer nabbed fifth in the final corner from teammate Alex Marquez, with Luca Marini, Binder, Miller and Enea Bastianini rounding out the top 10.

Bezzecchi’s triumph ensured Aprilia ended the year on a high, while the paddock now pivots immediately into 2026 preparations with the traditional post-season test on Tuesday.

Results: MotoGP Grand Prix of Valencian Community, Circuit Ricardo Tormo