Marco Melandri believes it is ‘fundamental’ for Aprilia to be clear about who is the number one rider.
The opening round of the 2026 MotoGP season was a spectacular spectacle. Aprilia As four of their riders finished in the top five Grand Prix of Thailand.
Later Marco Bezecchi He crashed out of the sprint on Saturday, bounced back on Sunday and dominated the Grand Prix from start to checkered flag.
with Raul Fernandez in third place George Martin In fourth place, and Ai Ogura in fifth place, Aprilia now looks like the best manufacturer and is called upon in the pecking order for passengers.
Marco Bezecchi bounces back from his sprint accident to win in Thailand! 😍 Is this the beginning of the title case?
Marco Melandri believes it is ‘fundamental’ that the pecking order is clarified.
When discussing the opening round of the season Box discussionFormer MotoGP race winner Marco Melandri has called for a clear pecking order at Aprilia.
The Italian believes Bezecchi is in good form and will be ‘worried’ if team-mate Martin starts to challenge him in the coming rounds.
This led Melandri to believe it was ‘fundamental’ to make clear who was the first and second rider so that their title bid was not disrupted by teammates.
“Bezzecchi is on a roll now, so I’ll try not to scare Martin, in my opinion, having a first and second rider will be fundamental, Apria should do well now,” Melandri said.
“Then, as we said earlier, Thailand was a track where Aprilia didn’t do well but now it’s flying so you know they’ve closed the gap across the board in my opinion.
“It is an opportunity not to be lost at the World Championship this year, and if I were Rivola, I would be thinking about the World Championship.”
Who was the rider of the day for the Thai Grand Prix? 🏍️
Let us know in the comments below!
Marco Bezzecchi is the only rider who can challenge Ducati.
After the opening round of the season, it became clear that Bezcicci could be a real thorn in Ducati’s side throughout the year if his strong pace continued.
MotoGP agent Carlo Pernat called Bezcicci’s performance ‘stratospheric’. Pernat believes that Bezchichi will be a ‘real opponent’ For Ducati in 2026.
But, trying to lower expectations for the rest of the season, Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola pointed the finger back at Ducati.
After the big race on Sunday, Rivola has labeled Marc Marquez ‘the rider to beat’.Although the rider dominated the opening Grand Prix of the year.
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