Obviously, one race weekend (let alone the first one) does not determine a twenty-two-round season. However, Aprilia’s Thai Grand Prix was by far the best set of results that they ever had at the Buriram circuit – and the Noale brand leaves the opening round with all four of their riders inside the top five in the standings.
For a brand previously known for capitulating outside the European rounds, the opening weekend of 2026 was a significant turnaround for Aprilia, who stood on the top step for the first time in Thailand. Had it not been for Marco Bezzecchi crashing out of the lead in Saturday’s sprint race, the Italian would almost certainly have taken the double victory – such was his pace over the rest of the field.
Bezzecchi was not the only Aprilia rider to make it onto the podium at round one, as Raul Fernandez was able to back up his form at the end of 2025 with a podium in both the sprint and feature race. Notably, this was the first time in his career that Fernandez had put points on the board at a season opener since stepping into MotoGP.
On the otherside of the factory Aprilia garage, Jorge Martin’s 2026 campaign could not have gotten off to a much better start. After being absent for all but a handful of races in 2025, the 2024 World Champion reminded everyone why he is just that. The Spaniard had his first clean weekend in what feels like forever, and as such, he was able to clinch a fifth in the sprint race and a fourth in the Sunday race. In just one race weekend, Martin was able to score over half of the total points he scored across the entirety of 2025. Should the #89 avoid injury this season, he will most certainly reclaim his spot as one of the current grid’s best riders.
The fourth rider in Aprilia’s roster, Ai Ogura, enjoyed another successful weekend in Thailand, one year on from his sensational debut in the MotoGP class. The Japanese rider finished ahead of Jorge Martin in the sprint to cross the line in fourth place – replicating his result from a year prior. The main race on Sunday got off to a steady start, with Ogura outside of the top ten – though a late race charge for the Trackhouse rider saw him bring his Aprilia home in fifth place.
The question now is, can Aprilia keep this up? Aprilia has yet to show consistency across an entire season, though 2025 was perhaps the closest they have come thus far to providing a competitive package all year.
One could argue that one reason they had it ‘so easy’ at round one was largely to do with Marc Marquez making his return from injury and not quite being 100% fit. However, given where the other Ducati riders finished this weekend, Aprilia may still have had the upper hand, even against a fully fit Marquez.
Had Marquez not suffered a puncture in Sunday’s feature race, we could have seen the reigning world champion demote Raul Fernandez off the podium – though beating Bezzecchi was all but out of the question by the time Marc’s pace was coming to him.
Whilst Aprilia enjoyed a Ducati-esque weekend, their red compatriots didn’t quite enjoy the same fortunes. A second place in the sprint for Marc Marquez was as good as it got for Ducati at round one. For the first time since Valencia, 2020, there was no Ducati rider inside the top five on Sunday. Though a tough season opener is unlikely to indicate the year to come for the brand that has dominated the series for the past several seasons.
After such an incredible start to the year, all eyes will be on Aprilia to see if they can continue to take the fight to Ducati, and a presumably fully fit Marc Marquez. However, the fact that we have just seen Aprilia have their best-ever weekend in MotoGP at a circuit they had never even podiumed at before suggests they will indeed have the tools to take the fight all the way this season.
