‘Ducati isn’t struggling, we did something special’

Aprilia has denied suggestions that its rival Ducati underperformed at the MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix, insisting it simply outgunned the Borgo Panigale by producing “something special”.

The Noale-based manufacturer kicked off the 2026 MotoGP season with a dominant victory at Buriram, with Marco Bezzecchi leading every lap from pole position to win by more than five seconds. Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez joined Bezzecchi on the podium, while Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura ensured all four RS-GPs finished inside the top five.

Aprilia’s Buriram success coincided with Ducati enduring its worst weekend in five years, as it failed to secure a podium finish for the first time since the 2021 British Grand Prix. 

Although Marc Marquez was chasing Fernandez for third when he had to retire with a tyre failure, other Ducati riders were unable to put up much of a fight against Aprilia’s strengthened four-rider line-up, or KTM’s Pedro Acosta, who finished second.

Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola believes the Thailand result was down to his team getting everything right, rather than Ducati taking a step backwards.

“If I look at the performances, I think Pedro did something special. The step was done more by the Aprilia’s here — more than the Ducati.

“I think Honda was also quite close. Maybe we were just a bit better with tyre degradation. 

“But if we see the lap times, [the] only one who was on top since day one was Bez. I don’t think that Ducati was struggling, I think that Aprilia did something special on this track.

“We will see in the next races. If it’s just the complete package, it would be good news for us, obviously. But Marc was fighting there.

“OK, Pedro did a fast Q2, so he was stepping in the middle. And when you are in the middle, you know this is difficult. 

“Clearly, watching Ai overtaking so easily many riders was impressive. But at that stage, tyre degradation played a bit of a role. And it was Marc who was managing the time.”

While the Desmosedici has long been regarded as the most versatile package on the grid, Aprilia has gradually ironed out some of the most visible weaknesses on the RS-GP to turn it into a formidable contender.

After closing the 2025 season with back-to-back victories in Portimao and Valencia, it brought another evolution of the bike this year, with aerodynamics again being the core focus of development.

“We push quite hard on the aero side. And at the same time, we think that there is always a bit of here and there. Small details make a difference,” explained Rivola.

“You can see that the shape of the bike is quite different compared to last year. What I like the most is that, considering how difficult it is to let the new aero package be ‘digested’ by the riders, every time we introduce something on that side, it works. It means that our models work well.

“The way we are working is getting better and better. I keep repeating, but every year we become a better factory. And if you have a better factory, then you will have better performance.”

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— The Motorsport.com Team