Bezechichi and Aprilia marched into enemy territory. The home crowd in Jerez will be partisan – but the records won’t stop coming. This is the state of the game as MotoGP returns to Europe.
Following a record-breaking weekend on the pond in Austin, Bezechichi And Aprilia Racing Land is flying high on Spanish soil at the top of MotoGP. Five wins in a row. He led 121 consecutive innings.. Dominance. Italy’s coalition, at least on Sunday, remains unstoppable in 2026 as Bez seeks to stretch the tide behind enemy lines. And on Saturday? Read on…
Why enemy lines? Bezchichi is a popular winner, but the 100,000+ Spanish faithful are happy on their own – and someone gives the same colors as Bezchichi. George MartinHis return to form has been one of the stories so far and after taking the Tissot sprint gold medal, the 2024 world champion arrived in Jerez with confidence to go with another Sunday podium in Texas. Bezeci may have won all three Grands Prix this season, but the #89 is just four points behind in the championship. A team battle between the factory Aprilia stars is about to break out in Andalucia, and this pair have a target on their back at the Spanish cathedral of MotoGP.
Inside Aprilia’s stable of America, heartbreak was the name of the game when it arrived on Sunday afternoon. No. Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) as well. That maiden MotoGP rostrum looks set to be restored by the Japanese rider before the technical problem, so the 2024 Moto2 World Championship aims to do the same at Jerez. On the other side of the box, Raul Fernandez After a quiet but consistent COTA weekend, he will be in the hunt for a podium on his home turf.
Chief of the chasers: Acosta and KTM
Brazil may not have produced any headline-grabbing scores, however Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) returned to its best in Austin. Yes, that will continue to wait for Sunday’s win, but Acosta was the best left behind Aprilia on Sunday, and the #37 would have celebrated a double podium had it not been for a post-sprint tire pressure penalty. 21 points is the gap to Bezeci, who will miss his first Sunday MotoGP podium in Jerez.
A silver lining for Acosta’s tire pressure penalty for KTM? Ine Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) rider advanced to bronze. ‘The Beast’ was on stage in Austin, so can that form continue to Jerez? Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was P12 in the USA, so the South African will be hoping that his return to Europe can be a turning point to propel him to the front. Unfortunately, we now know that Maverick Vinales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) is yet to return to contention, the new target for Le Mans in 2025 after being sidelined in Austin with a shoulder injury. Tec3 left his replacement rider Pol Espargaro out of the field, with only Bastianini training due to a hand injury.
Looking for a response: Marc Marquez and Ducati
You would have unfavorable odds. Mark Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) with two Tissot Sprint medals and zero Sunday podiums to his name at his home Grand Prix. But this is the situation #93 finds itself in. Bezecchi’s deficit of 36 points is ahead of Round 4, and the seven-time MotoGP World Champion is behind the sensational Doctor GP of the United States in 2015. He has set his sights on victory on the first Sunday of 2026. 2019 was the last time Marc Marquez won the Spanish GP and the track and can he run the track properly?
Getting up and running isn’t the name of the game beyond the red box. Although he won a silver medal in the U.S. on Saturday, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) suffered in Sunday’s Grand Prix to see Italy sit P9 on a circuit where it won in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The platform will be the objective.
Leading the Ducati fleet to Jerez is the Pertamina Enduro VR46 racing team. Fabio D’Giantantonio. The back-to-back polesitter did not finish outside the top six on Sunday and has now finished as the top Ducati in the last two Grands Prix. Keeping that record going will be tough in Jerez, given the great performance of Marc Marquez, Bagnaya’s history and history. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) being the circuit winner last year, but it wouldn’t be a shock either. Diggia is on a roll.
The aforementioned Alex Marquez sat in P8 before returning to his first dream MotoGP victory. Without a top three in the Sprints and GPs so far in 2026, the #73 will need a resurgence in Spain – and rightly so. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) after the Italian P14 in Austin.
The three-week vacation has come at a good time for some, and that is Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP). A P8 in Brazil and P11 in Austin signaled a return to action for the 2025 Rookie of the Year, and Aldeguer will arrive at his home Grand Prix as he continues his recovery from a broken femur suffered over the winter.
Promising signs, but more is desired by HRC.
The Sprint stage was brutally close. Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) in Austin, and it was a big Sunday points ride as well. But in the end, it was a zero-pointer for the 2020 World Championships. Teammate Luca Marini A healthy amount of points for HRC’s pocket, particularly the Tissot Sprint P5, progress is evident before the start of the European tour. Johann Zarko (Castrol Honda LCR) was the Sprint points scorer in Austin before Sunday’s DNF, as a rookie. Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) secured a third consecutive P13 to maintain his 100% Sunday points tally. A different challenge awaits them in Jerez, and one HRC hopes will bring them back into the tie for the podium.
He continues to work hard at Yamaha.
The positive from Austin? Toprak Razgatlioglu (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) Getting on the scoreboard for the first time in MotoGP. The P15 isn’t where the Amazing Turks or Yamaha want to end up, but it’s a good step forward as they continue to experiment and turn the V4-powered YZR-M1 into a competitive bike.
Meanwhile, the competitor is right Fabio Quatararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) It was the Spanish GP last year. In the year The Polestar and P2 Sunday finish at the Cirque de Jerez-Angel Nito in 2025 will repeat your hand this time, but who knows – even if a track is perfectly suited to it, maybe it has to do some magic. El Diablo, 2019 Spanish GP stage finish Alex Rin (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), and the winner of the 2021 Jerez race Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) failed to score points at COTA, so the experienced trio will fight to change that in Spain.
Enemy territory for some is home turf for others. But Jerez is a pure classic for all of us. The hills will come alive with the sound of MotoGP as the sport returns to one of its iconic venues, so tune in this weekend – it will be worth the wait.
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