Aprilia weighs team orders in MotoGP title fight
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 12, 2026
Aprilia team orders
Aprilia is weighing team orders for the final two rounds of the MotoGP season if only one of its riders remains in realistic title contention. For now, Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi are free to race each other, and Massimo Rivola said Aprilia wants both riders fighting for wins as long as the mathematics remain open. Rivola and Fabiano Sterlacchini both said internal guidelines may be needed to avoid problems, but the team is not ready to shut down open competition while the title picture still gives its riders a shot. Aprilia said 185 points or 148 points were still available, depending on whether Qatar went ahead, and it said all four RS-GP riders remained mathematically in title contention with five rounds left. That gives the team a narrow lane to keep pushing for results and a clear reason to keep the conversation alive about when the racing should change from free-for-all to managed order. The guiding principle is simple. Let the riders attack while the numbers still support it, then adjust if one contender fades and another stays alive in the championship hunt.
Martin title fight
The title fight stayed close after the Indonesian Grand Prix, where Jorge Martin led Marc Marquez by 2 points in the championship. Marco Bezzecchi sat 46 points behind Martin, Ai Ogura trailed by 96 points and Raul Fernandez was 119 points back. That gap leaves Aprilia with four riders still in the mix on paper, but the standings also show why team management has become part of the discussion. One rider sits at the front of the pack by a slim margin, two more remain within striking distance and the fourth still has a mathematical path if the season opens up in the right way. Aprilia’s position reflects that balance. It wants Martin and Bezzecchi to keep racing hard because the title math still works, and it does not want to cut off either rider while the championship remains open. At the same time, the team knows the final stretch can turn quickly if one rider builds momentum and the others slip away. The pressure rises because the season still has enough points available to keep the door open, yet each round trims the margin for error. That makes every result part of a larger calculation, from the front of the field down through the rest of the Aprilia group. Martin’s slim lead over Marquez keeps the headline battle alive, but the broader picture includes Bezzecchi, Ogura and Fernandez and leaves Aprilia with more than one rider to manage in the closing phase of the season.
Sterlacchini Tardozzi
Fabiano Sterlacchini made the case for team-order guidelines by pointing to two moments that could have changed Aprilia’s run in Indonesia. He cited a Turn 1 crash involving Bezzecchi and Fernandez in the Sprint as one reason the team may need a firmer framework, and he also pointed to Martin losing the lead to Marquez later because of tire-pressure concerns. Those examples pushed him to say Aprilia might have to “draw a line” soon because “the stakes are high” and the team wants to avoid wasting money. The message was clear. Aprilia wants to keep racing on merit, but it also wants to reduce the chance that one rider’s attack costs another rider points at a critical stage of the championship. Davide Tardozzi backed that view even more strongly, saying he has “no doubt” Aprilia will eventually introduce team orders. He said using those orders to aid Martin would be a logical move and called Aprilia’s performance in Indonesia “decidedly superior.” Tardozzi added that the championship would still be manageable if Aprilia defended its position in Australia, which gives the team one more checkpoint before the title fight tightens again. Put together, the comments show a team trying to hold onto open racing without losing control of its own championship fight. Aprilia still has options, but the margin for leaving things to chance keeps shrinking as the season moves toward its finish.
