How Aprilia is managing a MotoGP title fight between former foes

The 2026 MotoGP season increasingly looks destined for a two-horse title race between Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, with only a single point separating the pair after the French Grand Prix - and reigning champion Marc Marquez sidelined by injury.

A title fight of this shape playing out as expected would guarantee a riders' title for MotoGP’s perennial underdog manufacturer Aprilia - but it also means that team boss Massimo Rivola now finds himself in a situation almost unthinkable back when he joined the then-struggling team in 2019 - managing a pair of title contenders.

However, the veteran team boss Rivola has already showed himself in the past as someone more than capable of managing racers in tricky situations (a welcome relief given some situations the team found itself in before his arrival, with a revolving door of riders).

“It’s a nice challenge to have,” Rivola admitted following the pair’s one-two at Le Mans. “I’m not worried, at least so far.

“The rule is simple: respect each other, respect the people working in the garage, and respect the team.

"As long as they follow those rules, there won’t be any problems.”

There was, it felt for a few laps, one moment in Sunday’s main race where there seemed the potential for the situation to come to a head, as Martin - a rider with an aggressive reputation - hunted down his team-mate to set up what was ultimately a clean overtake.

Yet, given the respect between the riders (although not quite the friendship that Aprilia can expect next year between close friends Bezzecchi and new signing Pecco Bagnaia), Rivola says that he wasn’t that concerned during what could have been a key moment for the title fight.

“I was actually more nervous when Marco was behind Jorge,” he said, “because maybe some time ago Marco would have tried something too aggressive [trying to keep up].

“But he was smart enough to understand that Jorge was simply faster at the end of the race. He accepted P2, and that’s the right way to approach both a race and a long championship.”

Martin and Bezzecchi were never thought to be the closest pair of team-mates in MotoGP - with something of a rivalry dating back to their Moto3 days (pictured below with fellow current MotoGP rider Fabio Di Giannantonio right behind them) - but they have been nothing but cordial as MotoGP team-mates, even now that Martin has joined Bezzecchi as a regular win contender.

That dynamic will be further stressed, of course, if both riders remain clear of the rest at the top of the standings - and become increasingly aware that only their team-mate stands between them and the crown.

There is one potential further complication to the situation thanks to their 2027 plans, though, with one side of the Aprilia garage (Bezzecchi) already committed to at least two more years with the factory but the other side - 2024 champion Martin - heading to Yamaha.

But, acknowledging publicly for the first time that Martin (who, amid a freeze in contract announcements as the teams continue to lock heads with series bosses over financial issues, still hasn’t publicly committed to Yamaha) might not be with Aprilia in the future, Rivola was also quick to stress that he doesn’t believe that it’s going to be an issue that will make things trickier.

“I’m not sad at all,” he stressed. “If we lose Jorge at the end of the season, then we’ll enjoy Jorge as much as we can this year - and I’m sure he’ll enjoy our team as much as he can, too.”