Only three Ducatis in the top ten, or four Ducatis in the top 15; when did that last happen? Despite the absence of Marc Marquez, qualifying, the Sprint and Main races in Portugal showed that Ducati really can’t afford to rest on its laurels heading into 2026, as solid as those foundations have looked throughout 2025.
It would be unfair to say that Ducati’s dominance of the 2025 season is solely down to Marc Marquez; despite his problems, Bagnaia has had his days (even weekends) in the sun, while Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer have tasted success to a greater or lesser extent, but the last three races have shown that, if we take Marc out of the equation, then Ducati is not as far ahead as the 2025 results sheets show.
The second half of the season has seen excellent progress made by Honda, a double DNF for Mir in Portugal with technical issues notwithstanding, while Yamaha has sparks of brilliance thanks to Quartararo and KTM, in the hands of Acosta, has punched way above its current weight. With no changes to the regulations in 2027, leading to a virtual development freeze for many manufacturers, it’s not unfeasible to expect the fight at the front to be closer than ever in 2026.
Leading that charge will be Aprilia. The team will be keen to build on its best season ever, with three outright GP victories, and there’s every indication that it will be able to do that. We’ve been denied the sight of Jorge Martin getting to grips with the RS-GP, and it is hard to ignore the suspicion that he might have achieved great things on what is certainly the second-best bike on the grid; maybe even the best at times. Marco Bezzecchi has been outstanding in the fifteen rounds since his victory at Silverstone. At nine of them, there has been an Aprilia on the podium at least once in the two races, mostly thanks to Bezzecchi – but imagine what the team might have done with two top riders fighting at the front. If Aprilia can maintain the momentum into 2026, then expect the title race to be much closer.
Of course, there’s no reason to believe that Marc Marquez won’t have it all his own way again in 2026, as long as he remains injury-free. And could Bagnaia rediscover his love affair with the factory Ducati? Alex Marquez will get his hands on a GP25, which could go either way: Marc-like dominance or Bagnaia-like disaster. Alex will be loath to abandon his beloved GP24, although, as the GP25 is suspected of being a GP24+, maybe it won’t be too much of an imposition.
One thing that has occurred to me, looking at the results table for the season, is that Bagnaia’s season started relatively well, despite the impression that, overall, it has been disastrous. The first twelve rounds’ results read as follows: 3rd, 4th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 16th, retired, 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 4th. There are a lot of riders who would kill for results such as those.
Then, from the Austrian round onwards, it all fell apart: 8th, 9th, 7th, retired, 1st, retired, retired, retired, retired. What puts it into context is the eleven GP victories and six Sprint race victories he scored in 2024; rarely has there been such a slump while the rider has been able to complete a full season. If Bagnaia feels hard done by, then how must Jorge Martin feel, given his complete inability to defend his crown in 2025?
The Portuguese Sprint race was one of the best of the whole season, with Alex Marquez, Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi fighting at the front. Acosta was brilliant, leading half the laps but unable to mount a full challenge to Marquez, while Bezzecchi couldn’t keep up with either of them, although he finished a mere half a second behind Marquez at the flag.
In the Main race, Bezzecchi was transformed, leading from lights to flag, while Marquez tussled with Acosta but then ruined his front tyre trying to keep up with Bezzecchi, although he was able to keep Acosta at bay to take second place. It wasn’t a vintage Grand Prix, with the top five separated by eight seconds at the flag, the top ten spread out by 26.5 seconds. But in terms of significance for 2026, it was very important.
There’s only one race left, at Valencia this coming weekend. With the championship title and second place already decided, everyone will be going racing simply for the fun of it, although Bezzecchi could very well seal third place in the championship ahead of Bagnaia. No, the real significance of the final round will be the first test of the 2026 machinery over the following two days after the GP. Not only will we be getting our first glimpses of 2026 bikes, but also new riders, Toprak Razgatlioglu, fresh from WSBK success, and current Moto2 championship leader Diogo Moreira.
