Aprilia's Massimo Rivola says the Aragon MotoGP could reveal which riders are genuine championship contenders.
With 56 points covering the top six riders and ten rounds still to go, the final MotoGP title of the 1000cc era remains wide open.
However, Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola believes the upcoming Aragon round could help identify the “real” contenders.
RS-GP riders Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura currently fill the top three positions in the World Championship, followed by Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Fabio di Giannantonio.
Trackhouse Aprilia's Silverstone winner Raul Fernandez completes the top six.
If the recent pattern continues, momentum could swing between Aprilia and Ducati depending on how well their respective machines suit each circuit.
The reigning nine-time world champion was unstoppable at Balaton Park and the Sachsenring – anticlockwise, stop-and-go tracks that suit both his riding style and current right-shoulder limitations.
Next weekend's Aragon round is at another ‘Marquez circuit’, where he’s a seven-time grand prix winner and has been unbeaten in all four races on a Ducati, with Gresini in 2024 and the factory Lenovo team last year.
“We know that Aragon is a Marc track,” acknowledged Rivola.
“There are still 370 points on the table, but Aragon can give us an idea of who will be the real title contenders for the future.”
Aprilia struggled during the second half of both the 2023 and 2024 seasons, most notably in the non-European flyaway rounds.
That trend was then spectacularly broken with victories for Bezzecchi and Fernandez late last year, albeit with Marquez out injured.
“We can say as a statistic that in the past we were bad in the second part and last year we were quite strong,” Rivola said.
“I hope that last year makes a better statistic [for the future] than the previous ones. We'll see.
“I don't really think that the first or second part changed really.