Marco Bezzecchi
Aprilia pulled the covers off their 2026 MotoGP bike at an event in Milan on Thursday. They have made clear that they are targeting the world championship with the RS-GP26.
Marco Bezzecchi finished third in the 2025 standings after winning three Sprints and three Grands Prix. He and Aprilia ended the year as the strongest combination in MotoGP, as evidenced by his victories in Portugal and Valencia, but world champion Marc Marquez was out injured at that time.
Aprilia only finished fifth in the teams’ standings but Bezzecchi scored nearly 90% of their points. 2024 title-winner Jorge Martin missed much of the year through injury.
Thoughts on Aprilia’s 2026 design?
Given Martin’s lack of mileage on the bike, Bezzecchi may be the biggest threat to Marquez this year. As a combination, they will hope to challenge Ducati in the other two championships.
Aprilia’s 2026 MotoGP design is ‘super aggressive’
Speaking on stage, Bezzecchi pointed out that Aprilia’s bike already looks ‘quite different’ to its predecessor. Even though it’s the final year of the ruleset before the 2027 overhaul, they continue to innovate.
Bezzecchi called the design, which notably features a new fairing, ‘super aggressive’. It’s unclear if they will take to the track in Malaysia with this exact specification.
Finish the sentence: In 2027, the Aprilia rider line-up will be…
“The bike is quite different from last year. You can see it quite clearly. It was super nice to see her yesterday for the first time. It looks super aggressive.”
Aprilia used a ‘camouflage’ livery at the post-season test in Valencia to disguise some of their developments. But Sky Italia commentator Guido Meda noticed that some of the parts had made it to the 2026 bike.
“It seems that what we saw in Valencia with the camouflage has now become real!” he observed.
Aprilia won a key MotoGP rules battle with Ducati over the winter
Aprilia secured a key regulatory victory over their rivals, including Ducati, over the off-season. There were calls to ban their seat aero, supposedly on safety grounds.
However, Aprilia can still run these ‘leg wings’ in 2026 after the proposed ban was postponed until at least next year. Honda have taken inspiration from their design.
Team ambassador and MotoGP legend Max Biaggi says Aprilia have ‘no weaknesses’, suggesting they can be competitive at every race.
CEO Massimo Rivola says the MotoGP field will be extremely close in 2026 after progress from KTM and Honda. He expects Yamaha to be the slowest after switching to a V4 engine.
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