APRILIA AND DUCATI ENTER SAN MARINO GP WITH TITLE FIGHT STILL TIGHT

Heading into the San Marino GP, the MotoGP fight between Aprilia and Ducati is still finely balanced. Aprilia delivered a major statement by winning the first race after the summer break at Silverstone, while Ducati responded strongly at Aragon two weeks ago to level the contest. With both manufacturers expected to be competitive at Circuit Marco Simoncelli, this weekend has the potential to produce the closest Ducati-Aprilia battle of the 2026 season, with neither side able to establish a clear edge after Practice—an idea reinforced by Friday’s tight running at Misano.

Misano, officially the San Marino Grand Prix, is an Italian event held on the Adriatic coastline, and both Aprilia and Ducati are based relatively close to the circuit. The championship context adds extra pressure: 24 points cover Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez and Martin’s teammate Marco Bezzecchi as the 14th round approaches, meaning pride and title momentum are both on the line.

Friday’s action suggested a convergence in form. Marc Marquez led FP1 by just 0.060s, but Bezzecchi then took the lead in the hour-long Practice session by 0.103s over the reigning champion. The fastest outright laps in Practice underlined the split of strengths: Bezzecchi (Aprilia) topped the times at 1m30.144s, with Marquez (Ducati) second at 1m30.247s. KTM’s Pedro Acosta was sixth, Luca Marini seventh for Honda, and Fabio Quartararo was 16th.

Sector-by-sector, Bezzecchi’s advantage came early and late in the lap. He was quickest through the first sector, covering the Turn 1/2 chicane and the tight Rio section at Turn 4/5, while Honda led sector two with Alex Marquez second and Bezzecchi fourth. The third sector—featuring the Curvone right-hander—was comfortably Bezzecchi’s domain, whereas Marquez set the pace in the stop-and-go last sector that includes two left-handers to finish the lap.

That pattern fed directly into how Marquez framed the challenge. He acknowledged that Bezzecchi and Aprilia are very strong in the fast corners, saying: “Not more for me there! It's not the place to find more. Bez and Aprilia are super-fast in these kinds of corners. In fast areas like Assen and Silverstone, and we know that they are very strong. We need to try to understand if we can be stronger in other areas.” He added that Misano is “one of the tracks where everything is more equal,” with Aprilia strong in sector 3 and Ducati stronger elsewhere, and insisted the job is to “find the best for our riding style.”

Marquez’s comments also reflected the specific physical and technical concerns around his arm. The talk in the paddock had been driven by a gym photo he posted showing the extent of damage to his arm and surrounding muscles after seven major operations. He said on Thursday he shared it to stop repeated questions about his condition. Misano’s fast right-handers in the middle of the lap are already a weak point for him from last year, when his shoulder was in better shape.

Bezzecchi’s own situation is complicated by injury too, but in a different way: the Aprilia rider is carrying a knee issue on his left leg. Even so, the Misano layout could give him tactical opportunities. The report highlighted that if Bezzecchi finds himself leading Marquez, he could cut off a key overtaking zone; if the order flips, Bezzecchi could use a slingshot into Turn 14.

Ducati’s Friday looked strong in depth even if Aprilia had the edge at the front. Four Ducati bikes were inside the top five at the end of Practice, while Aprilia bookended the top 10 with Martin just about scraping into Q2. Behind the headline rivalry, there were also signs of other riders pushing: Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio both said they felt good from the off, and the pace on the medium tyre drew attention, with Acosta indicating he would test that compound on Saturday.

On race pace, the full picture was still unclear, but Bezzecchi’s short stint on a new soft tyre in PR left him comfortably fastest. Martin, meanwhile, described a major gap to Bezzecchi, saying he was down on him “every corner,” and he also admitted on Thursday that he has “never been the favourite” in the championship fight. With Bezzecchi having added four third-place finishes in the last two rounds despite injury, Misano now offers him a chance to cash in and potentially retake the lead he lost before the summer break—setting up another high-stakes Italian-style showdown between Aprilia and Ducati.