MotoGP 2026 - Jerez de la Frontera (EN)

I have to be honest, these weeks without MotoGP have been long. Damn Trump and his compulsive megalomania.

After the first races in Thailand, Brazil, and the United States, MotoGP returns this week after a month-long wait, kicking off the European leg of the world championship. The first stop, as per tradition, is Jerez de la Frontera, now celebrating its 40th anniversary. It’s just a shame we skipped Qatar, which is always a great race to watch.

This will be the first in a series of posts I’ll be writing about MotoGP. If all goes well, I’ll post every race weekend, along with potential market rumors or stories from the past.

At first, I didn’t know how to frame this post, because the classic formula of recounting three days of racing is boring. So I thought: why not group everything into "Tops and Flops" and a lighthearted rating system? This is a great idea because it frees me from the traditional structure, allowing me to summarize everything that happened over the weekend.

Sprint

Top

• Marc Marquez: A good Friday, but not exceptional. He didn’t look like someone who would fight for pole or the win—that was his brother, Alex. However, Marquez doesn't get intimidated. On Saturday, partly thanks to the rain, he put his Ducati on pole. On a track where passing is a struggle, that’s a major move. In the Sprint, he showed everyone his beyond-exaggerated luck. Everyone started on slicks. With five laps to go, while in second place behind a lightning-fast Alex Marquez, he lost the front due to the rain that started falling a couple of laps earlier. Where did he crash? At the final corner. This man was lucky enough that the bike didn’t stall; he got back on, somehow made it back to the pits (even cutting across the grass), swapped to the bike with wet tires, rejoined in last place, and won the Sprint. You tell me if that isn't luck.

• Francesco Bagnaia: A bad Friday—now a habit for the last year—and a wet qualifying session that ended with him in 10th, three seconds off pole. It felt like a ruined weekend. On Saturday, in the Sprint, he was completely saved by the rain and a correct call for the bike swap. This put him in first for a couple of laps before being overtaken by Marc Marquez. He finished second, saving a Saturday that, up to that point, had been ugly.

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• Franco Morbidelli: Good old Franco is fighting for a seat in MotoGP. He hasn't had a clean race weekend in two years. Any positive result is a potential reason for a team to hire him. Like Bagnaia, he is suffering against his teammate. In Jerez, the story remained the same: Friday and Saturday he was consistently slower than his teammate, Di Giannantonio, with no sign of improvement. He wasn't in a position to do anything special in the Sprint, but then the rain fell, he managed to stay upright, swapped bikes at the right time, and landed a podium. Excellent.

• Brad Binder: The best KTM by a margin, at least in the Sprint. However, it was a crazy Sprint where the winner was simply whoever stayed on their feet. So, saying that Brad is "back" is premature. But a fourth place gives him some breathing room after a truly anonymous start to the season.

Flop

• Alex Marquez: You’re the fastest in free practice and show great pace. Saturday comes with a few drops of rain, and you let the entire front row slip away. Okay, he starts fifth and still has good pace. He starts well in the Sprint, takes the lead, the rain falls, he doesn't pit immediately, and he crashes because he took a risk. Sure, at that point in the Sprint (as the leader), it was hard to predict a downpour would break out seconds later. But throwing away a good result like that isn't ideal, especially if you start the 2026 championship with a GP26 (factory Ducati) and aim for the title. I’ll just say that Martin won a world title in 2024 thanks to Sprints.

• Fabio Di Giannantonio: A very good Friday and a great Saturday morning with a third-place in qualifying. He starts the Sprint poorly, losing time with Zarco and losing contact with the front two (Marc and Alex Marquez). Then the rain shuffles the deck; he swaps bikes at the right time, but by then the gap was too large and the podium was just a mirage. It’s still a good fifth place, but based on what he had shown until then, it’s a disappointing result.

• Fermin Aldeguer: Can someone explain what Fermin was thinking? It was raining hard, everyone came in for wet tires, and he decided he wanted to be different. He stayed out on slicks, even though you couldn't stay upright on slicks if you had used gallons of glue. I know he tried to do what Binder did in 2021—winning on slicks on a wet track—but that’s a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. He finished last. A grand move, worthy of Napoleon Bonaparte when he decided to invade Russia just as winter arrived.

• Yamaha: Even if Quartararo finished seventh in the Sprint, saved by the rain, this M1 with a V4 engine is still pathetic. Until last year, everyone pointed the finger at the inline-four engine for the bike's lack of competitiveness. This year they have the same engine layout as the others, and after a full year of development, the bike is still a mess. Maybe the problem isn't the bike itself, but the way they think about designing it.

• Aprilia: The situation for Aprilia is different from Yamaha. Even though Aprilia had a terrible Sprint, the bike is the fastest. However, seeing only Fernandez in the points, while Ogura finishes 15th and Bezzecchi and Martin crash in the rain, is not good. If Aprilia wants to fight for the title—and the potential is there—certain mistakes cannot happen. Especially because Martin, same as Alex Marquez, won a title in 2024 specifically because of the points racked up in Sprints.

• KTM: Leaving aside Binder, who finished fourth by a miracle, what we have is yet another KTM that starts well only to get lost in the race. Bastianini 11th and Acosta right behind him are not exactly the highlight of one's life. True, the rain messed everything up, but in dry conditions, the KTMs are not fast. Friday proved that amply.

These are the results: (click here)

Race.

Top.

• Alex Marquez: If the Sprint was a disaster with a crash in the rain, Sunday with the sun out saw Alex bring home the only possible result after what he showed on Friday afternoon. Starting from fifth, he was already third after the first corner. Within a few laps, he passed Bezzecchi for P2, his brother Marc for P1, and from there it was total control until the checkered flag. Nothing to say. If you win and control the whole race, you’re a Top!

• Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin: Same as Alex Marquez. They crashed in the rain on Saturday, then on Sunday, in the sun, they showed their potential and that of the Aprilia. It was a "subdued" race for Bezzecchi compared to the last five races where he won them all, leading over 120 laps. Still, a second place allowed him to widen the gap in the standings from the runner-up, Jorge Martin. For Martin, a solid fourth position proves he is in shape and is another step forward in learning the Aprilia after a nightmare 2025.

• Fabio Di Giannantonio: Good old Fabio is becoming a permanent fixture in the top 10 and on the podium on Sundays in 2026. Today was another beautiful third place and a nice podium. The Sprint was just a bad hiccup. He didn’t have the pace to stay with Alex and Marco Bezzecchi, but he was fast enough to comfortably keep everyone behind him at bay, starting with Jorge Martin. The icing on the cake: once again, he gave a reality check to his teammate, who is struggling a lot in 2026. Very well done.

• Aprilia: The more races go by, the more the Aprilia package proves competitive—not just with the factory team, but also with the "Trackhouse" satellite team, as Ogura and Fernandez finished fifth and sixth respectively with a great comeback in the final stages. Today, Aprilia put four bikes in the top six, with both factory riders first and second in the world championship. A beautiful performance that confirms everything Bezzecchi, Ogura, and Fernandez offered toward the end of last season. Could this be the year for the Noale team?

• Zarco: The old-timer showing everyone at Honda how it's done. With his P7 and his 36 years, he’s a rider who gets results if you give him a decent bike. He was there in fifth for almost the entire race, only running out of steam at the end and being overtaken by the two Trackhouse Aprilias. Still, a very solid performance, putting himself ahead of all the other Hondas, Yamahas, and KTMs. He did the absolute maximum he could with a bike that is nonetheless growing.

• Bastianini: 2025 was a disaster, no doubt about it. 2026 hasn't exactly started great either. But this weekend, especially on Sunday, he showed a decent pace that earned him a top 10. Sure, he finished 14 seconds behind the winner (bad for a team aiming for the title), but he was the fastest KTM rider on track.

• Aldeguer: After the Saturday madness that earned him a lovely last place, on Sunday in the dry, Fermin showed the speed he possesses. A nice ninth place, points collected, and a weekend finished on a positive note. Aldeguer is very fast; it's just a shame he isn't consistent yet. Once he learns to go fast everywhere, he will be dangerous for those at the front.

Flop

• Ducati (Factory): So, we have Alex Marquez first, Di Giannantonio third, and Aldeguer ninth. I’m not counting Morbidelli in 12th because he doesn't really count anymore, being consistently the slowest of the Ducatis in normal conditions. And the two factory riders? Well, Marquez lost it a few laps after the start and Bagnaia retired with brake issues. While the other Ducatis finish and win, these two (especially Bagnaia) can't get a single thing right this year. I suspect that in Borgo Panigale they’ve lost the development path or, more logically, have abandoned this bike to focus human and financial resources on 2027 with very different bikes. The championship is long, and anything can happen, but the Aprilias are always at the front and they look scary.

• Yamaha: Nothing to say other than "sad." The Yamaha riders finished P14, P16, P18, P19, and P20, finishing over half a minute back in 25 laps. Practically, they were a second a lap slower in the race. In a MotoGP fought over hundredths of a second, that is unacceptable. Yamaha has been flat on its back for years now. They even changed the engine thinking it would flip their destiny, but nothing seems to change.

• Honda: I’m putting them in the Flops because Zarco proved this Honda can run with the front group. Maybe it can't fight for the win, but the bike is actually ready to fight for the spots that matter. Seeing the other Honda riders finish P13, P15, and P17 isn't great. For sure, it's hard to pass at Jerez and if you start behind, you struggle. But Zarco qualified second (albeit in the wet). The bike is there; the riders need to be faster.

• KTM: KTM will always be in the Flops regardless, until they prove they are serious. For years they’ve said "we’re title contenders," pushing the rhetoric of having the best bike. Then, when it’s time to get serious, the bike isn't fast or the riders aren't competitive. This time the bike was competitive—Bastianini proved it—but the others didn't exploit the potential. Not only that, Acosta, who they say is a phenomenon, hit the rider in front of him in Turn 2 in the opening laps, lost part of his aero, and destroyed his race. It’s not the first time Acosta has sabotaged his own Sunday. I almost feel bad for the Austrian manufacturer.

These are the results: (click here)

That was the Jerez weekend. A weekend of two halves, with an exciting Saturday and a soporific Sunday. Let’s hope the next event provides a better show. See you at the next race, May 8-10 in France at Le Mans.

M.