Marco Bezzecchi
Marco Bezzecchi was arguably Marc Marquez’s closest challenger at the end of 2025 as Aprilia took the fight to Ducati.
After a poor start to the season, not helped by Jorge Martin suffering numerous injuries in pre-season and in Qatar, Aprilia slowly started to surge towards the front of the field. Bezzecchi took on a leadership role and helped develop the RS-GP.
As MotoGP returned after the summer break, the Italian had a bike that could regularly challenge for podiums. Collecting five pole positions in the last 10 races, Bezzecchi became a close rival to Marquez.
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It was clear that Ducati’s dominance was no longer as superior as Aprilia took the fight to their Italian rivals. After Marquez’s injury in Indonesia following an accident with Bezzecchi, the latter became almost unstoppable.
Bezzecchi won the final two races of the season in dominant fashion. It propelled him to third in the championship and set him up for a title challenge in 2026.
Max Biaggi says Marco Bezzecchi was ‘motivated’ to push to the limits like Marc Marquez
Bezzecchi was out of his comfort zone in some way in 2025. He had never been a factory rider before, let alone a team leader, but he found the motivation to push the RS-GP to its limits, which he ultimately reaped the benefits of.
For MotoGP legend Max Biaggi, this motivation makes a ‘big difference’ for riders, and it is a trait that Bezzecchi shared with Marquez last year.
He told Speedweek: “Motivation enables you to achieve something on the bike. If you’re not motivated, you’ll be, for example, a tenth or two tenths of a second slower. And if you’re not properly motivated, you won’t even push yourself beyond your limits.
“The top three, four, or five manufacturers are very closely matched. But the drivers make the big difference.
“We saw that with Márquez last year. Márquez made a big difference compared to everyone else. Is that normal? We don’t know. But what’s certain is that he makes a big difference.
“Marco achieved something similar at Aprilia. Now we have to wait for Jorge (Martin) to really understand how much effort he brings, how much he can close the gap.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marco Bezzecchi from net worth to race number
Can Marco Bezzecchi challenge Marc Marquez in 2026?
With the new MotoGP regulations not coming until 2027, many anticipate that 2026 will be similar to last year. Aprilia will be looking to continue the momentum and fight Marquez and Ducati, who proved almost impossible to beat on track.
However, Bezzecchi refuses to believe Marquez is invincible. The Italian wants to battle the Spaniard for the championship, and he is expected to do so after his progress in 2025.
Prove me wrong: Marco Bezzecchi will be Marc Marquez’s closest rival in 2026
Bezzecchi knows the ‘key’ to beating Marquez is not to focus on the Ducati rider’s results, but rather look at himself and what he can do to improve.
Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola says Bezzecchi needs to learn to manage expectations, stating that is what very often causes their downfall.
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