The fight for the MotoGP championship is becoming increasingly exciting, after Jorge Martín commented that the competition between Aprilia and Ducati has intensified following Marc Márquez‘s recent victories at the Czech Grand Prix.
Aprilia started the 2026 season with a notable advantage, with many experts suggesting that the title battle could be narrowed down to Martín and his teammate, Marco Bezzecchi. However, Ducati has received a significant boost in the last European races, achieving its fourth victory in the last six events.
Márquez, who had relinquished hopes in the championship fight, has re-entered the competition with two consecutive victories, first in Hungary and then in the Czech Republic. Currently, Aprilia continues to lead the overall classification, with Bezzecchi beating Martín by a margin of eight points. However, Fabio di Giannantonio and Márquez are now just 23 and 40 points behind, respectively.
Reflecting on his recent performances, Martín acknowledged that his performance at Le Mans does not match recent races, and expects tough competition between the two Italian brands. “I think neither we were the best nor they the worst. We have struggled in two races,” commented the Spanish rider.
Martín hopes that the upcoming races, which will take place on circuits more favorable to Aprilia’s style, will allow them to recover their previous performance level. “I said at the beginning of the season that Ducati was not far away. Now I think both bikes are quite similar and the competition is on,” he added.
Martín’s weekend in Brno was not easy, marked by a penalty for lap length that he received in Hungary. This affected his qualifying, where he only managed the tenth fastest time, leaving him at a disadvantage for the races. Ultimately, he finished fifth and ninth respectively, while Ducati took advantage of Aprilia’s difficulties to achieve a double podium presence.
Despite the result, Martín expressed his satisfaction for the constant improvement he showed during the weekend, but recognized that they feel far from experiencing direct competition with Ducati. “I don’t have confidence in the front end and it seems we’ve lost our way. Hopefully, Assen will be a good circuit for us, but we need to improve,” he concluded.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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