Ducati received a wake-up call at the start of the 2026 MotoGP season. After years as the dominant force in the premier class, the Borgo Panigale factory saw Aprilia stun the paddock by fielding an RS-GP that was indisputably the benchmark bike on the grid.
It wasn’t that the Desmosedici had regressed, but after becoming a somewhat finicky machine in 2025, progress in 2026 proved harder to come by—at least compared to the massive strides made by the Noale manufacturer.
Not long ago, Ducati Team Manager Davide Tardozzi admitted it was a surprise to see Aprilia’s raw strength early in the year. At the start of pre-season testing, the Bologna outfit believed they had the sharpest prototype in hand; however, by the second test stint, it was the RS-GP that impressed the most, forcing its Italian rivals back to the drawing board to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the red prototype.
While Ducati called upon its engineers to extract more, Aprilia swept through the opening rounds of the year. Marco Bezzecchi claimed victory in the first three Grand Prix races—Thailand, Brazil, and the United States—while Jorge Martín secured three podiums and a Sprint win. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, the picture was stark after three rounds: Noale 101 x 69 Borgo Panigale.
In Spain, Álex and Marc Márquez gave Ducati its first real breather. Riding current-spec machinery for Gresini—a reward for his runner-up campaign last year—the #73 took victory in Sunday’s main race at Jerez de la Frontera, while the older brother’s Sprint win secured Ducati’s first maximum-points weekend of the season.
Aprilia hit back in France, outscoring their rivals by 15 points, but Ducati then scored maximum points in Catalunya, where Álex Márquez won the Sprint and Fabio Di Giannantonio claimed the Grand Prix victory. In Italy, Aprilia swept the board once again, but from Mugello onwards, the tide began to turn.
Bezzecchi hit a shocking slump in form, scoring just 13 points over the next four rounds. Marc Márquez, on the other hand, gained serious momentum following his return from surgery. Collecting 119 points across Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Germany, the Spaniard firmly put Ducati back in the championship fight.
Aprilia, which held a 34-point advantage over Ducati in the Constructors’ standings back in France, saw its lead shrink to just 11 points as the paddock entered the summer break.
While Aprilia suffers through a string of setbacks—particularly on Bezzecchi’s side of the garage—Ducati has regained its swagger. Speaking at the Sachsenring, Tardozzi stated that both bikes are now on equal footing, believing that the riders will ultimately prove to be the deciding factor in this all-Italian duel.
The factories have delivered their part so far. Now, it remains to be seen how the riders respond once action resumes after the summer recess.
MotoGP now heads into its summer break and will return to action from August 7–9 for the British Grand Prix, the 12th round of the 2026 season.
