MELANDRI SUSPECTS APRILIA IS LIMITING TRACKHOUSE’S FIGHT

Marco Melandri believes Aprilia may be changing its approach to Trackhouse as the factory team’s fight for the 2026 MotoGP title intensifies. Earlier in the season, team boss Massimo Rivola said the satellite squad was free to race against Aprilia. But after the factory riders pulled clear of Trackhouse at the Japanese Grand Prix, Melandri suggested the team may now be prioritising the championship battle.

The RS-GP has helped both Aprilia and Trackhouse challenge Ducati and Marc Marquez this year. Trackhouse riders Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura have each won a race, at Silverstone and Assen respectively, and their pace had brought them into contention with the factory team. That created tension after Fernandez and Jorge Martin collided in Barcelona. Martin called for Aprilia to introduce team orders, while Trackhouse was concerned Rivola might intervene. He did not do so at the time.

The title picture has since shifted. Martin leads the standings by two points after Marquez’s victory at Motegi. Marco Bezzecchi finished third in Japan, while Trackhouse riders Fernandez and Ogura were fifth and sixth. Fernandez is seventh overall, 117 points behind Martin; Ogura is fifth, 96 points adrift.

For Melandri, the gap between the factory and satellite bikes in Japan was telling. Speaking on Chiacchiere da Box, he said: “If we start looking at the races until the end, Aprilia, in my opinion, is starting to play a bit of a team game, because the two Trackhouse bikes, in my view, are slightly lacking, as they were going much slower than the other two – that’s never happened this year.”

Melandri also discussed Rivola’s assessment of Bezzecchi’s title prospects, saying the Aprilia boss had suggested the rider lacked experience in a championship fight. He added that Marquez’s mental strength and presence can unsettle rivals, recalling Martin’s admission after the race: “I thought I was going to win, but when I saw Marquez like that, I said, ‘It’s impossible.’”

Melandri said a second-place finish could still be acceptable, with races remaining in which Aprilia might have an advantage. His suggestion that Trackhouse is no longer being allowed to challenge the factory team remains an interpretation of the Japanese result; Rivola’s earlier public position was that the satellite riders were free to fight.