Aprilia beats Ducati in the numbers: 320 points per rider on average versus 213.7. Without Marc Márquez, it’s a gulf

Four bikes against six, and almost the same number of points. In MotoGP 2026, the riders’ standings tell the story of Marc Marquez’s dominance, but the manufacturers’ standings paint a different picture: Aprilia has been the most effective bike of the season. An analysis of average points per rider published by Motosan shows Noale clearly ahead of Borgo Panigale.

The four Aprilia riders, across the factory team and Trackhouse, are averaging 320 points. The six Ducati riders, split between the factory team, Gresini and VR46, are stuck at 213.7. The most telling figure is the total: Aprilia has scored 1,280 points, Ducati 1,282—but Ducati needed two extra bikes to get there.

The strength of the Veneto-based manufacturer lies in its consistency. Jorge Martin is second with 371 points, Marco Bezzecchi third with 357, Ai Ogura fifth with 294 and Raul Fernandez seventh with 258. Ogura has made it there despite missing two rounds with a thumb injury. And Fernandez, the lowest-ranked of the four, has more points than four of Ducati’s six riders, including Pecco Bagnaia on the factory bike.

The picture at Ducati is lopsided. Marc Marquez leads the world championship with 431 points, 60 more than Martin. Behind him, Fabio Di Giannantonio is sixth with 282 points on the VR46 bike, Alex Marquez eighth with 197 for Gresini, and Bagnaia ninth with just 173. Fermin Aldeguer is eleventh with 129, while Franco Morbidelli sits sixteenth with 70.

Number 93 alone accounts for a third of the manufacturer’s points. Excluding his tally, Ducati’s average drops to 170.2 points per rider, less than half Aprilia’s. On the same bike, the gap between Marquez and Bagnaia is 258 points: the Piedmontese rider’s season includes six retirements and one DNS in 20 rounds, with Qatar ending in the worst possible way.

There are some mitigating circumstances. Alex Marquez and Aldeguer have missed several races through injury, while Aldeguer and Morbidelli are riding last year’s GP25. Even allowing for that, however, the team’s overall performance remains a long way off Aprilia’s.

After 19 Grands Prix, the two manufacturers are tied on nine wins apiece—and here, too, the breakdown says a lot. Aprilia has won with four different riders: Bezzecchi six times, and Martin, Ogura and Fernandez once each. Ducati has won with three: seven victories for Marc Marquez, one for Alex Marquez and one for Di Giannantonio. The remaining win went to KTM.

These numbers also carry weight in the manufacturers’ championship, which Ducati has won five times in a row since 2021. Aprilia has a bike that works for all its riders; Ducati has a champion keeping the numbers afloat. The question for 2027 is what will happen at Borgo Panigale when Marquez is no longer there to make the difference.

-> Follow us on Instagram too: @Corsedimoto