Nine MotoGP riders went from one team to another in this off-season, with six of them changing bike manufacturer in the process.
And while all are level on points right now and still have every chance to succeed or fail, that first contact with new surroundings - represented this time by three separate tests in Barcelona, Sepang and Buriram - can often be very informative.
The highest-profile manufacturer switch was champion Jorge Martin exiting the Ducati ranks for Aprilia. And he’s started that relationship by ruling himself out of basically all of pre-season testing with injuries.
Though Martin might take some comfort from how good the 2025 Aprilia looks in his team-mate’s hands and the fact he at least tried an earlier version at Barcelona last year, he’s still a default bottom of this list.
Here are the other eight team-swapping riders ranked from who has the most work to do to who looks to be operating at their maximum already going into the 2025 season-opening Thai Grand Prix.
8. Enea Bastianini
Ducati to Tech3 KTM
Gap to lead KTM
Barcelona: 0.574s
Sepang: 0.836s
Buriram: 0.704s
"The bike is different, and my approach at the moment is not correct."
Most riders stick to vaguely positive PR speak even when things aren't going so well in testing - but former works Ducati rider Enea Bastianini, to his credit, doesn't tend to sugarcoat things and has been frank about what has so far been a complicated adaptation to the KTM RC16.
What's gone well: A last-session improvement of six tenths of a second at Buriram suggests something is at least clicking over one lap. Bastianini said he and his long-time crew chief Alberto Giribuola, who he's been reunited with at Tech3, had been trying to recreate what worked for him in the Ducati times - but eventually pivoted to Pedro Acosta's set-up and immediately found gains.
The other good news is that there's no real confusion: "I know what I have to do. I know very well. But when I'm on the bike and [later] when I check the data, [I see] I'm not doing this."
What needs to be better: Bastianini is having to rewire the way he approaches a corner - he specifically highlighted the use of the rear brake, which at Ducati he used during straight-braking to help deceleration but at KTM is instead more of a cornering tool - and he's realistic this "incredible reset" just can't be an overnight thing.
And the tyre drop-off in race trim is apparently pretty dire - a strange thing to say for MotoGP's late-race master. He had to bail on doing a sprint simulation in Thailand due to a vibration issue (which is an alarming thing for a KTM rider to mention given Brad Binder and particularly Jack Miller struggled with it so much last year), but in any case says it's clear the race pace just isn't there at the moment - and that the Thai GP looks set to be "complicated".
7. Miguel Oliveira
Trackhouse Aprilia to Pramac Yamaha
Gap to lead Yamaha
Barcelona: 0.939s
Sepang: 1.236s
Buriram: 0.503s
After an encouraging first contact with the Yamaha at Barcelona last year, Miguel Oliveira seems to have found linear laptime progression difficult - though ultimately looks in decent shape.
He says he and the Pramac crew are "as ready as we could be" going into the opener.
What's gone well: There's a lot of appreciation from Oliveira's side for the M1's "pure handling" - he expected it to be reasonably rider-friendly, but it's exceeded his expectations.
It's a bike, he says, that makes it easy for the rider to get to 90% of the performance.
What needs to be better: But those remaining 10% are complicated. For Oliveira, the biggest limitation is - like for Bastianini - the bike demanding a different braking technique, and like Bastianini he's convinced that's not something you can introduce in a moment.
At Sepang he was finding the new-tyre performance difficult to access (a familiar issue on the Yamaha) as it was "one of those things where, if you try harder, you get a worse result" - yet being just half a second off in qualifying trim in Buriram while only doing a single qualifying-simulation run in the final session (while many opted for two) has to be a decent sign.
6. Maverick Vinales
Aprilia to Tech3 KTM
Gap to lead KTM
Barcelona: 0.379s
Sepang: 0.690s
Buriram: 0.473s
The two Tech3 riders were supposed to be bottom of this list - but an eventual burst of speed for Maverick Vinales suggests he is indeed closer than team-mate Bastianini to figuring this thing out.
What's gone well: Vinales has been very happy with the RC16 throughout the pre-season, and has not hinted at any fundamental incompatibility.
He feels he's already more or less maximising the mid-corner phase and the corner exit, and while braking remains a puzzle a notable step was made on the final day of the Buriram test.
It meant he's ended up with a respectable single-lap effort and a decent enough sprint simulation.
What needs to be better: Still, there's very clearly a fair bit of work to do to get Vinales among those top positions.
Despite the gains on the braking, Vinales says that "still I am not able to be at the maximum" - which would be handy, as it is "the strongest point of the bike".
He's convinced that his race pace is further along than his single-lap, which is still mistake-laden. And he's certain it's just a matter of time till it clicks - but time to just experiment without an eye on the results has now run out.
5. Franco Morbidelli
Pramac Ducati to VR46 Ducati
Gap to lead Ducati
Barcelona: 0.762s
Sepang: 0.455s
Buriram: 0.599s
Any pre-season would be an improvement over the one Franco Morbidelli had last year (when a scary head injury from training on a road bike ruled him out completely), but this one has just been very positive - he's looked and felt at home in his mentor Valentino Rossi's VR46 team.
What's gone well: Equipped with the same bike he'd campaigned at Pramac last year, Morbidelli was unsurprisingly fast and towards the front throughout testing and felt he's managed to be more positive and more aggressive.
He feels like he's been at the team a lot longer than he has and, having had to ride with what he described as an "average base" after missing the pre-season last year, feels he's finally been able to really tailor the bike towards what he wants out of it.
What needs to be better: Given the bike continuity... you'd actually expect slightly faster laptimes, no?
Morbidelli felt pleased with his race run on the final day in peak heat or close to it (although the pace there was still well short of a certain other Ducati rider who is coming up shortly on this list) but indicated he still has some performance to find over one lap - a bit of a reversal from his performance trend last year.
4. Jack Miller
KTM to Pramac Yamaha
Gap to lead Yamaha
Barcelona: 1.826s
Sepang: 0.728s
Buriram: 0.031s
It is increasingly obvious that Miller, for whatever weaknesses he has carried through his MotoGP career, is something of a plug-and-play rider. He was on the level quickly going Honda-to-Ducati, then Ducati-to-KTM - and now the same has happened in going KTM-to-Yamaha.
What's gone well: Usual Yamaha benchmark Fabio Quartararo was hamstrung at Buriram by the front tyre allocation, but to be just three hundredths off him is spectacular from Miller regardless.
Miller said he "always knew that the Yammy had decent bones", but just wondered whether it'd suit him well - and it sure seems to. Pramac team-mate Oliveira believes Miller's found it "a bit more natural" than he has thanks to the way the Australian attacks the corner.
What needs to be better: There was still a four-tenths gap to Quartararo in the sprint simulation at Buriram, although Miller attributed that to a wrong engine mapping that meant he had to slow down massively in the final laps.
3. Marco Bezzecchi
VR46 Ducati to Aprilia
Gap to lead Aprilia
Barcelona: 0.471s
Sepang: Fastest
Buriram: Fastest
The rider Aprilia is getting to know looks a lot more like 2023 Marco Bezzecchi than 2024 Marco Bezzecchi. Which, if it holds - jackpot.
What's gone well: Bezzecchi made big laptime strides through the pre-season and looks able to make good use of what sure seems to be a substantially-upgraded Aprilia.
He's competitive on race trim and has already set the manufacturer's best-ever laps at Sepang and Buriram. He's capitalising on the braking phase in a way he really wasn't last year, and apparently compensating well for a lack of rear stability.
What needs to be better: It's really hard to tell right now - so let's reframe this as 'what's missing'. Bezzecchi has kept Aprilia in the mix and smiling through the pre-season, but will only really know where he is in terms of personal performance once he faces off against a fit Martin - and a fit, Aprilia-knowledgeable Raul Fernandez.
2. Pedro Acosta
Tech3 KTM to factory KTM
Gap to lead KTM
Barcelona: 0.063s
Sepang: Fastest
Buriram: Fastest
Only the customary murkiness of KTM's pre-season picture keeps Pedro Acosta from the top spot here - and what's with me having changed my mind around 15 times or so before publication.
What's gone well: He looks the fastest KTM whenever he goes out on track. Last year set that up, and this year's so far continuing the projected trajectory.
The switch from Tech3 to factory KTM is in some ways a nominal one - Acosta was already every bit a factory rider last year and he's kept the same crew chief - but whatever change there is is clearly proving smooth.
Team-mate Binder is definitely not the best rider to judge by a pre-season, but it would not be a shock if he has to get used to fighting for best of the rest in the KTM camp this year.
"We got in the pace here quite fast, that is not quite normal for us," Acosta told MotoGP.com at Buriram.
"For sure my best pre-season, but also maybe the best pre-season of KTM so far in MotoGP.
"For sure it [the bike] is much better than last year."
What needs to be better: KTM's financial situation Acosta crashed a few too many times during the pre-season. He'd admitted "priority number one" was making the RC16 calmer - and it's not totally clear whether that's been achieved, or whether he's still sometimes too on the limit.
1. Marc Marquez
Gresini Ducati to factory Ducati
Gap to lead Ducati
Barcelona: 0.651s
Sepang: 0.549s
Buriram: Fastest
If you were to project championship probabilities right now, I don't see how you could give Marc Marquez any less than 45%. Which is pretty great for a pre-season with a new team.
What's gone well: Let's not waste much digital ink where three words will do - he is quick.
Besides that, Marquez seems to have found harmony in terms of bike development with new team-mate Pecco Bagnaia (both pointing out over and over again just how aligned their feedback is) and is clicking with "very precise, very organised" new crew chief Marco Rigamonti - who Marquez said did a very impressive job catching up on his new rider's 2024 data in the off-season.
What needs to be better: There's not really a direct comparison overall with Bagnaia, who's had a scuffed Buriram test - but Sepang, a track Marquez likes a lot less, left the impression that there will be GPs in 2025 where the six-time champion gets outqualified by quite a lot.
Equally though, Marquez is a rider who can ship four-five-six tenths in qualifying and then win the race without it even really being a surprise.
