13 rounds into the 2026 MotoGP World Championship and the destination of this year’s title is still very much wide open with just 24 points covering the leading three riders in the title standings, Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzechi.
Fortunes continue to ebb and flow with the Aprilia and Ducati machines, and their riders, favouring some circuits more than others so the point gaps continue to yo-yo.
Marquez dominates at Aragon – again
After a relatively lacklustre Silverstone, where Marquez could only manage a best finish of seventh after he, like all the other Ducati riders, suffered with grip issues, Aragon wasn’t quite win at all costs, but it wasn’t far off.
It’s been clear in 2026 that the Aprilia works better at some circuits than the Ducati and vice versa with Silverstone clearly favouring the Aprilias. But Marquez and Ducati were far more confident in their prospects at Aragon, particularly Marquez whose track record at the Spanish circuit is exemplary.
He was clear favourite to succeed last weekend but that came with added pressure as he knew anything but a double would clearly hinder his hopes of an eighth MotoGP title. Just because he’d won ten times before at Aragon though didn’t mean he’d do so again this time around – or did it.
In the end, he delivered what was expected with comprehensive victories in both the Sprint and feature Grand Prix races. And with the Aprilia of Martin back in fifth in each race, it saw Marquez cut the leader’s advantage over him from 40 points to 19.
Anti-clockwise circuits with their plethora of left handers have always been a favourite of Marquez and he again delivered when required. He holds the record number of wins at the Aragon circuit but the next round at Misano is expected to favour the Aprilias so if Marquez can beat them in their own back yard, then an eighth title will be well within his grasp.
Aprilia continue to lead
Of course, the Aprilia duo of Martin and Bezzecchi will have plenty to say in the outcome of the 2026 title and with nine rounds still to go, including Misano, the outcome of the races at the Italian circuit won’t ultimately determine the end result.
But they could play a significant role so Martin and Bezzecchi will both be aiming to make their expected advantage count. The latter’s fitness is improving all the time and pole position and a brace of thirds at Aragon was a stunning performance even if Marquez did grab all the headlines.
He sits 24 points behind Martin, the Spaniard’s season built on consistency with him being a near ever-present in the top five. Blips have come at Catalunya, Hungary and the Czech Republic but three Sprint wins and six Grand Prix podiums is keeping him ahead of the chasing pack.
He’s chasing a second MotoGP title with Bezzecchi aiming for his first so with just 24 points covering the top three riders, the title is anyone’s and whilst there’s bound to be drama, keeping out of trouble over the next few months and continually racking up the points could prove the key.
Acosta continues to defy odds
There’s no denying that Pedro Acosta is a special talent and he’s getting results on the KTM which he has no right to do, particularly when you look at the results of the three other KTM riders. Nowhere was this emphasised more than at Aragon where Acosta finished fourth in the Sprint race before taking a brilliant second place behind Marquez in the Grand Prix.
His overtaking manoeuvre on Bezzechi, immediately after Marquez had overhauled the Italian was opportunistic to say the least but he knew it was the perfect time to strike and offered him his only chance. He pushed Marquez hard until the Ducati rider upped his pace in the closing stages, but second place was his fourth Grand Prix podium of the season with three more coming in the Sprint races.
To put that into context, the next best result by a KTM rider in a feature Grand Prix is sixth by Enea Bastianini in America whilst Acosta’s points tally of 189 is 14 more than the four other KTM riders (including substitute rider Pol Espargaro) combined.
And if Acosta can push Marquez close on an inferior machine, what’s he going to be capable when the duo are Ducati team-mates in 2027. It’s a mouth-watering prospect.
Ogura loses ground
Ahead of the Aragon round Trackhouse Aprilia’s Ai Ogura was very much a title contender with strong performances week in week out. That included a maiden victory in Holland as well as podiums in France, the Czech Republic and Germany with his results at the latter placing him second in the championship table, just 14 points behind the pace setting Martin.
However, his first mistake of the season came at Silverstone when, after finishing second in the Sprint race, he crashed out of the Grand Prix when lying seventh. With team-mate Raul Fernandez taking a start to finish victory it was, without doubt, an opportunity lost especially as the Aprilia was so strong at the former airfield circuit.
That error saw the gap to Martin, who won the Sprint race at Silverstone before finishing second to Fernandez, increase to 37 points and things went from bad to worse when a training injury left him with a broken thumb. The injury forced him to miss the entire Aragon weekend, and he now finds himself down to fifth in the standings and 53 points adrift of Martin.
There’s still plenty of points available for Ogura to close the gap, but he’ll need to hit the ground running when he returns and hit top form straightaway. Team-mate Fernandez also lost ground at Aragon with just two points scored across the two races where eighth in the Sprint race was his only finish, technical issues forcing him out of Sunday’s 23-lap race.
No end in sight for Yamaha’s woes
Whilst Aprilia and Ducati continue to lead the way, Yamaha and Honda remain very much the fallen giants of MotoGP. The latter have shown glimpses of pace in the hands of Joan Mir and Luca Marini, but Yamaha’s woes show no signs of ending with top ten finishes few and far between.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Manufacturer’s standings with Yamaha languishing at the bottom of the table with just 78 points. That alone is 51 points adrift of fourth-placed Honda whilst a whopping 312-point gap to the pace setting Aprilia highlights their major lack of performance in 2026.
Only Toprak Razgatlioglu will remain with the brand in 2027, the triple World Superbike Champion having penned a two-year deal at the beginning of the year and although he’s scored the most points across the current four riders, former MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo continues to struggle.
Currently 15th in the standings, the Frenchman had a couple of top six finishes in the early rounds but by then it was already well-known he’d signed a deal to ride for Honda in 2027. That was made official last month, and with his frustration in the performance of the Yamaha increasing, he appears to have put all his focus on the forthcoming year and his pending move to HRC.
That’s not to say he’s given up, far from it, but he’s failed to score in the last four races and had the ignominy of finishing last at Aragon subsequently saying, allegedly, he would no longer help Yamaha develop its bike. The manufacturer has expectedly hit back and what was once one of the most harmonious relationships in the paddock is now anything but.
More rookies in 2027
The 2027 line up is nearing completion now and it will represent one of the biggest shake-ups seen, not just because of the new rules – which will see capacity cut from 1000cc to 850cc – but also because of the amount of team/rider changes. No less than half the current grid will find themselves riding for different manufacturers next year including Martin, Acosta, Ogura, Francesco Bagnaia, Quartararo, Alex Marquez, Fabio di Giannantonio and Mir.
The shake up means 2026 will be the last season in MotoGP for several stalwarts, most notably Brad Binder, Jack Miller and Alex Rins with the results for all three having tailed off significantly, for various reasons, in recent years.
Ten-time MotoGP winner Maverick Vinales is also expected to be on his way out which means four riders with almost 700 MotoGP starts will be heading elsewhere in 2027 with the first three named set to continue their careers in the World Superbike Championship.
Losing such a wealth of experience will present an opportunity for a quartet of rookies in 2027 with current Moto2 front runners Izan Guevara, Daniel Holgado and David Alonso having already been announced at Yamaha, Ducati and Honda respectively with Senna Agius the hot favourite to replace Vinales at the tech 3 KTM team. All four are exciting talents and few will argue they deserve the chance to showcase their substantial skills.