Aprilia names tracks of ‘concern’ in Jorge Martin-Marc Marquez MotoGP title battle

Aprilia may have completed an historic MotoGP top-four sweep at Mandalika, but Jorge Martin still leads Marc Marquez by just two points at the top of the standings.

It leaves the 2026 MotoGP crown resting on a five-round showdown between the leading Aprilia and Ducati stars, with Marco Bezzecchi clinging on, 46 points behind, in third.

Mandalika had long been circled as one of Aprilia’s strongest events and, in raw performance terms, lived up to the hype.

But the factory failed to capitalise in the Sprint, with Raul Fernandez and Bezzecchi tangling at Turn 1 before tyre-pressure issues and a mistake saw Martin drop from first to fourth.

That handed the Sprint victory and championship lead to Marc Marquez. Martin was then only the third-best Aprilia in Sunday’s Grand Prix, meaning he recovered Saturday’s lost points but gained nothing overall.

Asked which of the remaining circuits - Phillip Island, Sepang, Lusail, Portimao and Valencia - particularly favour Aprilia or Ducati, technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini said:

“It's difficult to say, not because I don't want to, but for example, we were supposed to be in ‘defence mode’ in Spielberg, but then we did a really good weekend.”

Adding to the intrigue is that Jorge Martin and Marquez both missed most of the upcoming events due to injuries last season. 

In Martin’s case, as at Mandalika, he therefore has no previous RS-GP experience at Phillip Island, Sepang (barring a few 2025 test laps) or Portimao. The Spaniard was also badly hurt during his injury comeback in Qatar, before retiring from another comeback at last year's Valencia finale.

"Two tracks where we are a bit more concerned"

For Sterlacchini, Sepang and Qatar are the venues “where we are a bit more concerned”.

Ai Ogura was the leading Aprilia in qualifying for last year’s Lusail race, starting just tenth before finishing seventh in the Sprint. Bezzecchi was the top RS-GP in the Grand Prix with ninth.

Meanwhile, Marc Marquez qualified on pole and won both races.

Then, at Sepang, no Aprilias even reached Qualifying 2, followed by a best of seventh for Bezzecchi in the Sprint and tenth for Ogura in the Grand Prix.

Despite Marquez being absent through injury, Ducati still won both Malaysian races, courtesy of Pecco Bagnaia (from pole) in the Sprint and Alex Marquez in the Grand Prix.

“We are working to be as prepared as possible in Sepang, then clearly in Qatar Jorge last year didn't race, so basically these two are the two tracks where we are a bit more concerned,” Sterlacchini said.

“In the other tracks we believe that we are probably quite competitive, and probably Valencia is ‘neutral’ because it's a left-hand track where normally Marc is super competitive.”

While the combination of Marquez and Ducati has unrivalled title-winning experience, Aprilia at least has the advantage of multiple riders capable of fighting at the front as it chases a maiden premier-class crown.

“Clearly, putting all the bikes in front of Marc [at Mandalika], we put some margin in terms of gaining back the points,” Sterlacchini said.

That also gives Aprilia more cards to play in terms of team orders.

Sterlacchini said its riders remain free to race for now, as demonstrated at Mandalika, but indicated that will soon change.

“This isn't the time for orders; we'll give ourselves one-two races, then we'll have to draw a line and start handing them out; that's part of this sport,” Sterlacchini told Sky.

However, Ducati also has riders who have traditionally excelled at some of the remaining circuits, such as Alex Marquez and Bagnaia at Sepang,

With Bagnaia already out of mathematical contention, and Gresini's Marquez next to drop away, both could potentially be called upon to assist the #93.