Three newcomers will compete in MotoGP in 2025: Aldeguer, Ogura and Chantra – Who will take the “Rookie of the Year” title and hold their own in the premier class?
With the start of the 2025 MotoGP season, three newcomers await us: Fermin Aldeguer, Ai Ogura and Somkiat Chantra. The young talents come with a lot of experience from the smaller classes and now want to explore their potential in the premier class. In 2025, the title of “rookie of the year” is at stake.
Last season, none other than Pedro Acosta secured this – which was not a feat, however, since he was the only rookie at the time. Nevertheless, he has set the bar high with five Grand Prix podiums.
Fermin Aldeguer: Ducati’s new hope
Fermin Aldeguer is the youngest of the three rookies and will race for the Gresini-Ducati team in 2025. The 20-year-old Spaniard is a young talent who has made a name for himself through his career in the lower classes.
Aldeguer began his motorsport career by winning a title in the MiniGP 110. In 2018/19, he competed in the European Talent Cup before winning the European Superstock 600 title in 2020. His journey then took him to MotoE in 2021, while he also made a few wildcard appearances in Moto2 that same year.
Aldeguer has particularly caught the eye there in recent years. In the 2023 season, he finished third overall behind the top favorites Pedro Acosta and Tony Arbolino. Despite a few setbacks and penalties, the Spaniard has managed to consistently achieve strong results.
In 2024, he was able to assert himself among the top five riders in Moto2 again, even though the goal was to fight for the title. Ducati has already signed Aldeguer at the beginning of the 2024 season for the coming year.
At the Gresini team, he will pilot the winning machine from last year. His close collaboration with Ducati will help him get the most out of the GP24.
Ai Ogura – The Japanese world champion at Aprilia
Ai Ogura is the newly crowned Moto2 world champion and the first Japanese rider to win the title in 15 years. The 23-year-old has consistently demonstrated his talent in the intermediate Moto2 class over the past few years.
He was already a title contender in 2022, but had to settle for second place that year. In 2024, after switching to Boscoscuro and the decision by the World Championship to switch from Dunlop to Pirelli tires, he finally clinched the long-awaited title in the intermediate class.
Ogura began his career in junior racing series, including the Asia Talent Cup and Red Bull Rookies Cup, before moving up to the Moto3 World Championship in 2018.
His talent was quickly recognized and he moved up to Moto2, where he celebrated his first successes in 2021. In 2025, Ogura will race for Aprilia in the Trackhouse team, alongside Raul Fernandez, who is the only remaining rider after the departures of Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Vinales and Miguel Oliveira.
Aprilia have high hopes for the Japanese rider, who is known for his tireless work ethic and ability to adapt quickly to new conditions. After a rather mixed 2024 season, Aprilia are looking to catch up again.
Somkiat Chantra – The Thai pioneer at LCR-Honda
Somkiat Chantra is the first rider from Thailand to make the leap into MotoGP. His arrival marks a historic moment for Thai motorsport.
The 26-year-old Chantra already has a six-season career in Moto2 under his belt. After his first appearances in Moto3, in which he competed as a wildcard driver in 2018, he made the permanent switch to Moto2 in 2019.
where he competed for the Honda Asia team and performed increasingly well in the following years. One highlight was his victory at the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix, where he also achieved pole position and the fastest lap. In the same year, he also achieved his best overall result with sixth place.
Although he was unable to build on this last year, he was signed by LCR-Honda for the 2025 MotoGP season, where he will ride alongside Johann Zarco. For Honda, Chantra’s signing represents an important step, especially given the difficult times for the manufacturer.
Honda will count on Chantra to bring fresh ideas and new input to the team, even if the challenges of developing the machine and catching up with the European competition remain.
The challenges for rookies
Entering MotoGP is never easy. Talent alone is often not enough. The new rookies have to adapt quickly to the machines and the intense weekends with the sprint race, which does not exist in the smaller classes.
Aldeguer and Ogura have the potential to make rapid progress as they work with competitive brands – Ducati and Aprilia. But Chantra also has LCR-Honda at his side, a team that can help him adapt, even though Honda is still struggling with development delays.
The first test of the season at the winter tests in Barcelona in December 2024 showed the three newcomers close together at the back of the field. The three rookies will continue at the Shakedown test in Sepang (January 31 to February 2).
The official Sepang test with all the regular drivers will follow from February 5 to 7. There will be another test before the season opener in Buriram on February 12-13.
However, it is clear that the challenges for the rookies in the actual races are much greater. It will be interesting to see how they perform in their first season, as each of them has different strengths and will be competing on different machines.
