Marco Bezzecchi
Mat Oxley believes the way that Aprilia celebrated Marco Bezzecchi winning the 2026 Italian Grand Prix in a one-two with Jorge Martin at Mugello last Sunday irked Ducati.
Bezzecchi produced an almost faultless performance to secure a dominant victory at his and Aprilia’s home race for the first time. The Rimini native led teammate Martin at the finish line by 3.559 seconds, while Francesco Bagnaia finished 5.098s adrift as the lead Ducati racer.
Bagnaia put up an early fight and even led the Italian GP, after blasting past Bezzecchi down Mugello’s pit straight at the start of the third lap. But the Ducati GP26 was no match for the Aprilia RS-GP over a race distance, and Bezzecchi made a move for the lead stick on Lap 14.
Martin soon made his way past Bagnaia on Lap 16 of 23, as well, before Trackhouse racer Ai Ogura even threatened to snatch the final podium position aboard his satellite Aprilia in the closing stages. Ogura finished just 0.034s shy of Bagnaia after he ran wide at the last corner.
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Aprilia calling Mugello ‘our house’ after Marco Bezzecchi won the Italian GP annoyed Ducati
Aprilia made sure to celebrate Bezzecchi handing them the outfit’s first premier class victory in the Italian GP, too. The Noale outfit held up Bezzecchi’s and Martin’s pit boards with what Oxley suggests was a pointed message that irked Ducati by labelling Mugello as their house.
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Oxley also references how Aprilia poked fun at Ducati with a sticker on their bike at Mugello, having seemed to aim another dig at their Italian rivals for trying to ban the leg wings on the RS-GP. MotoGP explored banning leg wings ahead of the 2026 season, but it failed the vote.
“Ducati and Aprilia really don’t like each other,” he told Motor Sport Magazine. “And believe me, the egos of some factory bosses are at least as big as the egos of some MotoGP riders…
“You just know that Ducati bosses were raging when Aprilia celebrated their first Mugello victory in pitlane with Bezzecchi’s and Martin’s pit boards reading ‘Casa’ and ‘Nostra’ – Italian for ‘Our house’, a very pointed affront to Ducati, who have long considered Mugello to be their own holy of holies, with seven victories from the last Italian GPs.
“You only need to take a quick look at the team’s bikes in pit lane for evidence of another Aprilia diss on Ducati – the RS-GPs feature stickers on their leg wings that poke fun at Ducati.
“The stickers are inspired by Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream – a face howling in terror, with Aprilia leg wings for ears – and they are saying, ‘Who’s afraid of the leg wings?’. In other words, they’re a dig at Ducati.”
Bezzecchi’s Italian GP win in an Aprilia one-two with Martin marked a very different result to what Mugello has seen in recent years, having been Ducati’s very literal home race. A Ducati rider had won the previous four editions, and six of the past seven runnings prior to Sunday.
Bagnaia was Ducati’s best hope for continuing their recent run of results on home soil, but a true fight was ultimately impossible due to his inferior tyre management compared to those aboard the Aprilia RS-GP. His retreat ensured Aprilia easily improved their lead over Ducati.
Bezzecchi sits 17 points clear of Martin atop the riders’ standings and boasts a 39-point lead over VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio as the best Ducati pilot so far this year in third place. The Noale natives also lead their rivals from Bologna by 30 points in the constructors’ standings.
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