MotoGP manager claims Aprilia already has better bike than Ducati

Veteran MotoGP rider manager Carlo Pernat believes Aprilia’s 2025 RS-GP was “a better bike” than the Ducati that won the championship.

Ducati celebrated its second-best season ever in MotoGP, after sweeping to all three world titles and winning 17 of the 22 grands prix.

Marc Marquez sealed 11 of those to ease to his seventh MotoGP title and his first with the factory Ducati team.

But the 2025 Ducati proved troublesome for Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who both endured inconsistent seasons, with the former scoring just two wins compared to 11 in 2024 when he was championship runner-up.

Aprilia, on the other hand, had its best season in MotoGP and won four times with the 2025 RS-GP to finish second in the manufacturers’ table.

A strong second half of the campaign saw Aprilia regularly battling with Ducati and Marc Marquez at the front of the field, raising the prospect of a title challenge for the Noale brand in 2026.

Long-time rider manager Carlo Pernat accepts that Marquez made the difference for Ducati this year, but isn’t sure that “will be enough” against Aprilia next season.

“Ducati won't be able to sleep soundly,” he told Telenord.

“Aprilia has arrived. In fact, not only has it arrived, I have the impression it has also stepped on the accelerator.

“It’s true that, if we look at the overall standings, it finished second, behind another Ducati rider, but Álex Marquez was riding a GP24.

“And seeing what we saw, I'm almost tempted to say that this year's Aprilia RS-GP is a better bike than this year's Desmosedici.

“Let’s be clear: Marc Marquez made the difference. However, I don't know if next year will be enough, and not for just one reason.”

Pernat also labelled Marco Bezzecchi’s 2025, in which he won twice and was third in the championship, as “astonishing”.

“Have you seen the kind of rider Marco Bezzecchi has become?

“We knew he was strong, but the fact that he's managed to become this strong is, frankly, astonishing.

“He's grown incredibly; you can see that seriousness in his eyes, that desire to work and improve that, in all his years of competition, I've seen in very few.”