Marco Bezzecchi
Gresini ace Alex Marquez feels every Ducati rider agrees that corner entry is an issue on the Desmosedici GP26, but they do not have the same reasons for the root cause.
Ducati had produced the best bike on the grid in recent years, but the GP26 appears to have fallen behind the Aprilia RS-GP in terms of being the best machine. The United States Grand Prix last time out even proved that Michelin’s heat-treated rear tyre carcass is not the cause.
Aprilia’s 2026-spec RS-GP seemed to favour the harder rear tyre carcass that Michelin took to Thailand and Brazil more than the Ducati GP26. It was even reported in March that Ducati felt Michelin’s harder tyre carcass helped Aprilia, so they also expected to be closer in Texas.
Yet Aprilia racer Marco Bezzecchi continued his perfect start to the 2026 MotoGP season by leading every lap en route to winning the United States GP. VR46 ace Fabio Di Giannantonio was also the lead Ducati rider at COTA, but he came home 6.972 seconds behind Bezzecchi.
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Alex Marquez claims Ducati riders do not agree on why the GP26 is bad on corner entry
Such has been Aprilia’s form at the start of 2026 that it is reported that Ducati could receive concessions for the first time ever to help them to recover in the second half of the season. It has also not helped Ducati that Marc Marquez is still recovering from his shoulder injury.
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Alex Marquez believes Ducati know where they must improve the GP26, though, as all four of the riders using the GP26 this year have identified its cornering ability as its biggest flaw. Yet a problem persists as those with the GP26 do not agree on why they struggle to corner.
He told Mundo Deportivo: “It’s true that we, especially all the Ducati riders, are struggling a bit at certain points, particularly corner entry, and that’s where we’re having trouble.
“The important and positive thing is that all the riders agree, with slightly different explanations, but we all agree on the same problem, and Ducati can focus on that.
“But it’s also true that Aprilia have taken a very important step forward. They finished last year very well, and this year they’ve taken another one.
“So, Ducati are working incredibly hard. As a rider, I’m also trying to take small steps forward and get a little more out of it. And I think we’re not that far off, but we’d like to be closer.”
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Ducati awarded Gresini’s Alex Marquez a works-spec GP26 for the 2026 season as a reward for him finishing second in the 2025 riders’ championship while using a GP24. Only his elder brother Marc Marquez on the GP25 finished ahead of the 29-year-old in the 2025 standings.
Adapting to the GP26 has not been a straightforward affair, though, with Alex only eighth in the 2026 standings ahead of the campaign resuming at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. He is just eighth in the standings on 28 points, while Bezzecchi in first boasts 81.
Di Giannantonio as the sole VR46 rider using the GP26 leads the Ducati fold on 50 points, as well as scoring the sole Grand Prix podium by a Ducati racer this season with his P3 in Brazil. Marc Marquez in fifth place has 45 points, while Francesco Bagnaia ranks ninth with just 25.
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