Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin has compared his current Aprilia prototype to his 2024 title-winning Ducati GP24 in a verdict that should worry his championship rival and teammate at Noale, Marco Bezzecchi.
The Ducati GP24 is renowned for being one of the best bikes that has ever been fielded in the premier class.
During the first year of its use in 2024, the prototype carried Enea Bastianini, Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin to a total of 16 Grand Prix victories from the 20 that were on offer.
Will Jorge Martin regret leaving Aprilia to join Yamaha?
The legend of the GP24 stretches as far as Bagnaia wanting to return to it at the height of his struggles with its successor, the GP25, during last year’s campaign.
It was reported that Ducati allowed Bagnaia to use some older spec parts at the 2025 Japanese GP, which seemingly put an end to his rut as he scored a perfect weekend with a pole position and a double victory in the Sprint and Grand Prix formats.
- READ MORE: Jorge Martin issues ‘incredible’ verdict on Marco Bezzecchi after Spanish Grand Prix comeback
Jorge Martin says there isn’t a ‘big difference’ between Aprilia’s RS-GP26 and Ducati’s GP24
During his media duties at Le Mans ahead of this weekend’s French Grand Prix, Martin was asked for his thoughts on the differences between Ducati’s current spec of bike, the GP26, versus Aprilia’s.
The Noale-based constructor emerged with the fastest bike on the grid at the start of the season, with Marco Bezzecchi dominating the Grand Prix proceedings until Alex Marquez took a convincing victory last time out in Jerez.
Martin’s verdict is that there isn’t too much of a difference between the two bikes this year, telling journalists via GPOne, “The truth is that I don’t think there’s much difference between the two bikes.
Predict the order of the Aprilia riders in the 2026 MotoGP standings
He was then asked if he feels much difference between Aprilia’s RS-GP26 and his title-winning Ducati GP24, to which he replied, “I feel like they’re different bikes, riding them is different, but I don’t feel a big difference in terms of the times we do.”
With Martin’s injury-hit 2025 campaign ruling him out of action for the majority of last year’s term, it’s clear that the opening rounds of this season have consisted of him getting back up to speed with his new factory.
Now that he has built some confidence in himself and the bike he is racing with, his verdict that the RS-GP26 shares some similarities to the GP24 should certainly strike some fear in his Aprilia counterpart.
Martin sits just 11 points behind his high-flying teammate in the MotoGP standings, so the championship is still anyone’s to play for inside the Aprilia camp.
- READ MORE: Neil Hodgson believes Aprilia will favour Marco Bezzecchi over Jorge Martin in ‘tight’ title race
Aprilia have been warned of a ‘difficult’ title fight between Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi
Of course, when two teammates are pitted against each other in a championship battle, keeping both of their riders happy becomes a difficult task for any team boss.
Just ask Davide Brivio, who had to tread on eggshells while Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi’s tension-filled relationship gripped Yamaha at the height of their most successful period ever in MotoGP.
MotoGP pundit Marco Melandri has warned Massimo Rivola about the task he now has on his hands within the confines of Aprilia’s factory efforts, noting that he must find the right balance between both competitors to save from any cracks appearing.
It should be a fascinating campaign for both of Aprilia’s star riders. The Italian constructor has never found itself in this position before in the premier class, so it should be equally interesting to see how the team’s leadership figures handle it.
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