Jorge Lorenzo knew Ducati were in trouble ‘right away’ when he saw Aprilia’s 2026 bike

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It didn’t take long for Jorge Lorenzo to realise that Aprilia’s GP26 bike was going to dominate the field this season.

Aprilia have been a step ahead of Ducati all season, and not just when it comes to race results. Even the innovations Aprilia made to their bikes are something Ducati are just now trying to implement.

Of course, the most important facet for Aprilia was going to be the race results. Luckily, the strength of their bike has managed to keep Ducati at bay this season.

Which Aprilia rider will score more points in 2026?

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Given how dominant Ducati have been in recent years, Aprilia’s sudden rise as the team to beat this season must have come as a surprise.

Well, it wasn’t a surprise for Jorge Lorenzo, who knew Ducati were in for a difficult season after seeing Aprilia’s 2026 bike.

READ MORE: Aprilia announced Marco Bezzecchi’s 2027 deal ‘against the wishes’ of the MotoGP paddock

Jorge Lorenzo’s initial thought on seeing Aprilia’s bike was concern for Ducati

In an interview with Marca, Jorge Lorenzo explained how the unpredictability of this season has made Aprilia’s rise so exciting.

Lorenzo also praised the makeup of Aprilia’s bike, admitting that he knew almost instantly that Ducati were on the backfoot and would struggle unless they made big changes.

“It’s becoming increasingly unpredictable, and that’s the beauty of sport: you can predict the favourites and what will happen with 70% or 80% accuracy. But there’s always a 20-30% chance of surprises, both positive and negative, just like in sport in general…

“Nobody expected the Aprilias to be so dominant, and that’s what’s happened. So, the good thing about sport in general, and motorcycling in particular, is that there are always surprises.

“It’s impressive. It’s so compact, so low, and so agile. It leans more, it just leans more. It’s like it’s glued to the ground. In the tightest left or right chicanes, they’re faster.

“I, who have a keen eye because I’ve been watching this my whole life, saw it right away and said: ‘If Ducati doesn’t do something between now and the start of the season, it’s going to be impossible.’”

READ MORE: Marc Marquez can make Aprilia forget about the 2026 title if he does one thing on return at Mugello

Sylvain Guintoli reveals Aprilia keep telling Ducati riders to reject ‘favourites’ label

Speaking on the Gas It Out podcast, Sylvain Guintoli claims Aprilia prefer to see themselves as challengers and outsiders rather than favourites this season.

“Aprilia, since they got to MotoGP, they’ve had this building phase putting it all together, and then they started performing step-by-step. Obviously, they’ve stepped up a lot since the middle of last year. They’ve made huge steps.

“Even though they’ve got the best bike on the grid, they still see themselves as outsiders. I think they like that. Every time we speak to Massimo Rivola and Paolo Bonora in the paddock, they don’t want to put that pressure on themselves or the riders.

“They want to be the outsiders. They want to be the challengers. That is a way to relieve the pressure. I think they’re going to still go into that, even though they’re leading the championship with two riders, they’re going to go into every single race as a challenger. That gives them a little bit less pressure.

“They’re going to be thinking, ‘We know we’re strong, but we won’t go in as favourites despite what’s happened since the start of the season. We’re still not there, we still don’t want to admit we have the best bike, we’re the favourites for the championship, and we’re going to go for every single race with this attitude.’ I love that.”

Even with the tension within Aprilia, especially thanks to Jorge Martin shoving Paolo Bonora, there seems to be an internal understanding that the team’s goal is the most important.

Despite not considering themselves favourites, Aprilia are clearly prioritising their factory team going forward. In fact, Aprilia are set to issue team orders to Trackhouse at the request of Martin.

And even with the intense title race between the two riders, Rivola has confirmed Aprilia won’t favour either rider with preferential treatment and parts, despite Martin leaving the team.

While it is admirable that Aprilia are bringing this level of motivation to each race, there is some concern that them not accepting their label as favourites is a sign they’re avoiding the pressure that comes with that distinction.