In Aprilia’s house, they look to Marc Marquez: Massimo Rivola’s consideration

Aprilia still dominates MotoGP, despite the fact that in Jerez came the first victory of a rider who does not ride for the Noale manufacturer. Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin in any case remain first and second in the riders’ standings even after the Spanish Grand Prix, but it was on another opponent that Massimo Rivola’s attention focused at the end of the Andalusian day. It is Marc Marquez, now fifth in the standings and -44 points behind the world leader after crashing and retiring in his home race.

“It is forbidden to make proclamations, but clearly it is important that in Jerez we ranked four bikes in the first six positions. This is a very good sign,” noted Rivola, Aprilia CEO, intercepted by ‘Sky Sport.’

“But we are also benefiting from the fact that Marc Marquez is clearly not right. We have been working great over the winter, and Marco Bezzecchi has the advantage of starting further up the grid than others. This allows him to have a great benefit in the race.”

Winning Sunday’s Jerez race was Alex Marquez, who, with the Ducati Gresini team, scored an encore after his 2025 success, imposing an unsustainable pace for his rivals after overtaking his brother Marc in the early stages. Bezzecchi finished second, retaining the lead in the world championship despite a Sunday that was anything but easy: the Aprilia rider was not well physically and had the bitter Sprint Race crash on Saturday behind him. “I am very happy: it was a beautiful race, today it was important to make up for it after yesterday’s Sprint Race. Alex was simply too fast today, kudos to him. I did my best, I gave it my all,” said the Rimini rider at the end of the race.

On the official Ducati front, on the other hand, the Spanish Sunday was yet another chapter in a deepening crisis. That of Jerez is the ninth consecutive race without podiums for the Lenovo team, the worst fast for more than 12 years.

Bagnaia and Marquez have not been on the podium since the Japanese Grand Prix of 2025, a day that coincided with the number 93 rider winning the world title. Bagnaia was forced to retire mid-race due to a technical problem with the front end, while Marquez crashed on the second lap when he occupied second position. The world champion analyzed his own fall with some philosophy: “If you fall it’s because you did something wrong. Normally 90 percent of the falls are the fault of the rider, but with some falls it is better not to look for the why. In one and a half laps it is complicated to understand the conditions, I was looking for feeling; Alex overtook me, I wanted to fight for my goal which was fourth or third position. My throttle closed, I didn’t even try to hold it, in those situations the gravel is better.”

Marquez himself lucidly admitted that his current level is not that of a podium contender, realistically projecting himself toward the next rounds, “This weekend I was worth fourth-fifth position. I took the pole and won the Sprint, but in both cases under very special circumstances. We have to grow little by little as a bike-driver package.” Words that find confirmation in the analysis of the navigated manager Davide Brivio, now with the Trackhouse team, who in recent days had observed, “It would seem that Marc is not at 100% of the form, so he is riding in a condition that is not his and he has to make up for the physical deficiencies. Bagnaia seems not to have found that feeling that he often had and led him to win two titles.”

In Ducati’s house they are already looking to Monday’s tests in Jerez to turn things around. Significant, in this sense, the announcement of Bagnaia, who admitted how the factory team could find itself having to borrow the technical solutions adopted by Gresini: “During the break, Team Gresini worked very well. We will try to take it a bit further by trying their solutions on the track. They were fundamental for the victory of Alex Marquez, who here in Jerez has been very good from the start.” A statement that comes after Bagnaia’s own words on the eve of the weekend, when he had raised a structural problem with the GP26: “The DNA of the GP26 is the same as the GP25, which is why I can’t express myself one hundred percent. My strong point used to be braking, but the way the bike is made, I can’t exploit it anymore, I have to necessarily ride defensively.” For Rivola and the Aprilia, therefore, the crisis of the factory Ducati is an additional advantage in a season that, race after race, seems to be increasingly colored red and silver.