Fans all issue the same Pedro Acosta verdict as Raul Fernandez wins the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix

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MotoGP fans were all in agreement about KTM ace Pedro Acosta after Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez won the 2025 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island for his first win.

The 2025 MotoGP season has now yielded first-time winners in each of the past two rounds, after Gresini rookie Fermin Aldeguer won the Indonesian Grand Prix and Fernandez won the Australian GP. Gresini star Alex Marquez also won his first MotoGP race at April’s Spanish GP.

Sunday saw Fernandez register his 76th career MotoGP start, as he lined up fourth on Phillip Island’s grid. The Trackhouse rider had never finished higher than P5 over his previous starts in the premier class, but he ultimately made light work of taking victory in the Australian GP.

VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio cut Fernandez’s lead down to a mere 1.418 seconds at the chequered flag, as the Italian bagged P2 in the Australian GP. But the 27-year-old’s charge to P2 came too late to rival Fernandez, who had managed a three-second lead since Lap 17/27.

Raul Fernandez stuns fans by winning the Australian GP before Pedro Acosta has won a MotoGP race

Fernandez inherited the lead of the Australian GP on Lap 5, as Aprilia ace Marco Bezzecchi yielded P1 to the Trackhouse pilot to serve the first of his two long lap penalties. From then on, Fernandez produced a raft of consistent lap times to pull out a lead initially over Acosta.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Raul Fernandez from net worth to career stats

Acosta had briefly edged ahead of Fernandez in the early stages of the Australian GP, as the KTM rider claimed what was P2 on Lap 3 due to the straight-line speed of his RC16 at Turn 1. But Fernandez swept around Acosta’s outside into the Miller hairpin on Lap 4 to get P2 back.

It also proved to be a crossroads moment for the Spanish racers as while Fernandez went on to win the Australian GP, Acosta regressed to P5. Mazarron native Acosta lacked the pace to stay with his compatriot from Madrid, who stunned many MotoGP fans by winning the race.

MotoGP fans flocked to social media after the Australian GP to voice their sheer surprise at Fernandez winning a premier class race before Acosta has recorded his maiden race victory. Acosta made his 38th MotoGP start in the Australian GP, from which he has eight podiums.

One fan said on X after Fernandez won the Australian GP: “What is going on in the house of MotoGP? Raul Fernandez gets his first win before Pedro Acosta?” A fan also said: “The fact I had to witness a Fernandez win right in front of my eyes before Acosta did makes me sick.”

Another fan also said: “Who would have thought that Raul Fernandez and Aldeguer would arrive earlier in the first MotoGP victory than Acosta?” While one fan suggested: “If I were Pedro Acosta and I had to watch Raul Fernandez get his first win before me, I’d be fuming.”

Also, one fan stated: “I actually can’t believe we got a Fernandez win before an Acosta win!” While one fan reacted to the results from the 2025 Australian GP at Phillip Island, noting: “I never thought Raul Fernandez would win a GP before Pedro Acosta!”

Raul Fernandez leaves Pedro Acosta as one of just four riders without a MotoGP race win

Acosta is widely regarded as one of the brightest talents on the 2025 MotoGP grid, and he is also considered by many to be one of the outright best riders. Yet the 2021 Moto3 and 2023 Moto2 champion has just seen Aldeguer and Fernandez win races in MotoGP before he has.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Pedro Acosta from net worth to girlfriend

Mazarron native Acosta penned five MotoGP Grand Prix podiums as a rookie with Tech3 last year, and he has three for the factory KTM team so far this year. Yet P2 in the 2024 Americas GP, 2024 Indonesian GP, 2025 Hungarian GP and 2025 Indonesian GP are his best finishes.

Honda are ready to triple Acosta’s wage to sign the KTM rider for the 2027 MotoGP season, as well, such is his reputation in the paddock. Yet Acosta has never won a premier class race and Fernandez, who considered retiring from MotoGP earlier in 2025, is now a race winner.

Following Fernandez’s Australian GP win on Sunday, Acosta is also one of only four riders in MotoGP who have not won a premier class Grand Prix. Rookies Ai Ogura of Trackhouse and Somkiat Chantra of LCR plus Honda’s Luca Marini are also yet to win a MotoGP Grand Prix.