If anything is clear and evident at the end of the MotoGP season, it is that Italian and European factories continue to rule with authority among motorcycling’s elite. Despite the Japanese’s efforts, only one bike remains in the Top 10 of the premier category, 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo ninth with Yamaha and the others in a desolate land. Ducati is still on another planet, with six consecutive constructors’ titles, even if Noale’s neighbors are getting closer and closer. With an inspired and hard-working Marco Bezzecchi at the helm, Aprilia is shaving tenths off the Desmosedici GP. This weekend the RS-GP was the fastest on the lap and overall in the race, with an indisputable victory for the Rimini driver on the Portimao roller coaster which leaves the Italian pair two points away from confirming third place in the championship standings.
Pecco Bagnaia’s crash, on another fateful day for the three-time world champion, opened the way to the top of the standings Bez and Aprilia, which has already experienced its most victorious season among the big boys, with two victories for the Italian and another for the Madrid-born Raúl Fernández, of the Trackhouse customer team. The rise of the rider and the bike will mark two consecutive seasons for Ducati on the podium at the Valencia event. With eight podiums on Sunday, and another four victories and pole positions on Saturday, the Italian rivals are rubbing their hands thinking about 2026. “Let’s have fun,” ventured Massimo Rivola, project manager.
The race didn’t have much of a story, although there was fighting in the middle positions. Bezzecchi ran away from the front, unreachable by runner-up Álex Márquez, second for the seventh time this year, and Pedro Acosta, who continues to close the gap with the Italian factories with the KTM. The Austrians are a little far away, but still much closer than Honda and Yamaha. Ever since Marc Márquez regained the title in the Japanese GP and was injured the following week in Indonesia, accidentally attacked by the protagonist of the day, MotoGP has seen how the henhouse has stopped stirring. Without the rooster on the track, four victories for four different drivers, including six in the last six Grands Prix.
In a process in which Jorge Martín was called to lead the Aprilia project with the number one in the fold, the nightmare of injuries has crushed all the company’s plans. In Noale the focus was then on promotion Bezeven more so when the Madrid native made an unexpected contractual push to jump from the burning ship. With the conflict already forgotten, but the reigning champion still in trouble, everyone
Now they recognize the enormous merit of Bezzecchi who had to lead the development of a motorcycle that was not born anywhere near as close to Ducati.
“Marco did a fantastic job on the track, as did all the workers in Noale, to make many steps forward with our bike,” said Fabiano Sterlacchini, another new and fundamental figure in this step forward. “He had to bear all the weight of the development of this project and has the right speed, attitude and concentration to become a champion one day,” added the Italians’ technical team leader.
Aprilia highlights how Bezzecchi, who took third place in the championship in all categories but never won the title, is as fast as he is flexible when it comes to implementing the changes that the engineers suggest regarding his riding style and race strategy. He, however, prefers not to throw away too many flowers and concentrates on carrying out a job that never stops when it becomes the flagship of a brand. “The only important thing is to work and continue to improve,” said the 26-year-old rider, a member of Valentino Rossi’s talent academy.
His rivals, given what they have seen, are already withdrawing his membership as the world champion himself had already warned before getting injured. “Without a doubt they are closer than ever. We have already seen that they have taken a step forward and were simply better than us, at least this Sunday,” admitted Álex Márquez, Ducati’s savior in these end-of-year Grands Prix in the absence of his brother and the Bagnaia disaster.
