Aprilia is in the mix, but Bezzecchi is cautious at Jerez: "Old problems have returned, Ducati the favorite

Ducati strong at Jerez, but Aprilia is there: Bezzecchi was the fastest from the Veneto brand and hopes to bring the fight this weekend.

After being the benchmark in the first three MotoGP Grands Prix of the 2026 calendar, the weekend at Jerez represents a very important test for Aprilia. Today’s sessions showed more balance with Ducati, which has Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio in the top two spots on the timesheets, but Marco Bezzecchi is third and intent on being a protagonist again this weekend in Spain. All four RS-GP26s will be in Q2, which is an excellent sign, even if there’s still work to do before thinking about winning.

Interviewed by Sky Sport MotoGP, the rider from Romagna summed up day 1 of work in Andalusia like this: "It went pretty well. Still, it was a tough day, because this is a track with good grip and especially with the soft tire a few of the problems we used to have came back out. It wasn’t simple, but it went better than expected. I’m fairly happy; now we need to work to improve further".

Usually, Bezzecchi seems to prefer the medium tire to the soft, which at Jerez could be used both in the sprint race and in the long race: "In my opinion, it’s possible that the soft might be used on Sunday as well. This is a track with good grip; the tires don’t wear that much. But it’s true that it looks like Saturday will be a bit hotter. With today’s temperature, if the long race were tomorrow, choosing would be a real headache: both would work".

The current leader of the overall MotoGP standings confirmed he feels a bit stronger compared to last year’s Spanish Grand Prix, but he still expects progress: "Compared to Jerez 2025—reports Speedweek—I feel a little better. Aprilia has also worked a lot in the meantime. Nonetheless, I think Jerez is one of the circuits where we tend to have more problems. I’m certainly not completely satisfied; there’s still a lot of work to do tonight".

Bezzecchi also reiterated that he has better sensations with the medium tire, while with the soft there’s still a bit of work needed to put himself in a better position: "I felt very good in the morning when I was running the medium tires. I was less satisfied in the afternoon; with the soft tires the feeling was less sensational. There’s definitely still work to be done".

Finally, the Rimini native stated he doesn’t see himself as the favorite at all for this weekend at Jerez: "Based on their lap times, the Ducati riders seem to be the favorites, but I never saw them on track. So I can’t say much more, other than that half a second is a considerable gap". Bez ended pre-qualifying with the third-fastest time, but 506 thousandths behind leader Alex Marquez. He has good pace, but together with the Aprilia team he will need to find solutions to be able to fight for the win both Saturday and Sunday.