Everything has changed from Mugello to Misano
“I’m as happy as a hedgehog”, said – rightly – the CEO of Aprilia Racing Massimo Rivola after the Mugello double with Marco Bezzecchi ahead of Jorge Martin. On that late May Sunday Marc Marquez was returning from injury to collect some points and after Mugello he was 102 points behind Marco Bezzecchi.
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At the end of today’s San Marino GP Marc Marquez caught up with Jorge Martin at the top of the Riders’ World Championship. The nine-time world champion had never been in front this 2026, currently the leadership is shared, but what was supposed to be an even fight that would say a lot about the 2026 World Championship actually gave a heavy verdict, but no one could have imagined that the specific weight of today’s GP could ever take on such tectonic contours.
Marc Marquez won and recovered 14 points on Jorge Martin, who also led the race for a few laps, but then collapsed to fifth position behind Alex Marquez, Pedro Acosta and Fermin Aldeguer. Marco Bezzecchi fell at the Curvone on the first lap as race leader and dropped to -33 points from the top. Furthermore, Ducati has overtaken Aprilia in the Constructors’ standings.
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In some ways the great luck of Bezzecchi and Aprilia is that they will return to the track next weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. They need to react, first of all to show themselves that the World Championship did not end today at Misano and that the end of the season will not be a slow ‘agony’ after the euphoria of the start of the season. If the Noale group does not lose heart it will already be a great victory for the Venetian house regardless of what the outcome of the World Championship will be.
Certainly the one who comes out with his chest puffed up from the Misano weekend is in particular Luigi Dall’Igna. The General Manager of Ducati Corse with Marc Marquez has put back on track a season that seemed to say the least compromised. Furthermore, Dall’Igna today enjoys Pedro Acosta’s third place and Fermin Aldeguer’s fourth. The present and future of Ducati are as radiant as the recent past, a picture in which Francesco Bagnaia’s exit with chilling performances goes unnoticed.
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