"Amazing" results have Marc Marquez wary about a growing MotoGP threat

MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez is wary of the threat being posed by Aprilia as the 2025 season progresses, noting that it is “getting closer and closer”.

Aprilia refreshed its rider line-up for the 2025 season, bringing in reigning champion Jorge Martin and multiple grand prix winner Marco Bezzecchi to its factory team.

But 2025 has been turbulent, with numerous injury woes for Martin giving way to a contract dispute between himself and the marque before being resolved in July.

While this was going on, Bezzecchi managed to win the British Grand Prix and has been a regular podium visitor since.

At the recent Austrian and Hungarian Grands Prix, Bezzecchi led both on the Aprilia before eventually finishing third.

After 14 rounds, Aprilia remains second in the constructors’ standings in what is proving to be a tight battle with KTM, who is just 13 points adrift.

“At the moment, it looks like Aprilia is getting closer and closer,” Marc Marquez, who is currently on a run of seven successive sprint/grand prix doubles, told TNT Sport.

“Martin was fourth [in Hungary], so it means that already Aprilia last year did an amazing results, amazing weekends.

“And in a circuit where normally it’s very strong in corner speed and stop-and-go is not its strong point, today Marco was riding in a very good way.

“The most important thing is they are riding well, they are improving, but still our bike is working super good and we keep winning.”

Why Catalan GP could see Aprilia upstage Ducati and Marc Marquez

The 15th round of the 2025 season sees MotoGP return to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and to a track that Marc Marquez considers to be among his weakest.

Since 2013, he has only won at the circuit twice (in 2014 and 2019). However, he has been a consistent podium finisher at Barcelona - including last year, when he was third in the Catalan Grand Prix and second in the Solidarity Grand Prix.

In the latter, Marquez appeared to have made a breakthrough in his performance in fast right-hand corners. That’s something, along with his current form, will keep him favourite coming into the race weekend.

However, Barcelona hasn’t exactly been a bad venue for Aprilia in recent years. Last season, Aleix Espargaro won the sprint and was fourth in the Catalan Grand Prix, while also bagging two top fives in the Solidarity Grand Prix.

In 2023, Espargaro did the dream home double at Barcelona as factory team-mate Maverick Vinales joined him on the podium in both races. Espargaro was on for a podium in the 2022 edition of the Catalan Grand Prix before miscounting how many laps he had left and dropping to fifth.

Barcelona is a fast and flowing circuit that is heavy on tyre wear. This is something the Aprilia can take profit from. It’s a bike that works well when agility and stable cornering is required. But that also allows the bike to flow through long radius corners and control rear spin, and in turn means it is gentle on tyres.

Aprilia has also taken some considerable steps to improve the performance of the RS-GP in hard braking zones. That was evident at the Red Bull Ring and Balaton Park, and is the result of changes made to the engine braking software on the ECU.

Tyre preservation and braking are two areas where Marquez has excelled in 2025. Aprilia seemingly now has a bike to go up against that, as well as a strong line-up to match. Marco Bezzecchi has been consistently excellent all season, but especially since his Silverstone victory. Jorge Martin’s run from 16th to fourth in Hungary also marked a major step in his adaptation to the bike, with Barcelona - a circuit where he has some prior knowledge of the RS-GP - offering an opportunity for another big step.

At fast right-handed circuits, the Aprilia has been arguably the strongest package this season. Silverstone was one of Marquez’s tougher weekends, marking his only sprint loss so far and an uncomfortable run to third in the grand prix having crashed on lap one prior to a red flag.

On that day, Bezzecchi and Aprilia seized their opportunity. While they were fortunate with Fabio Quartararo experiencing a technical failure on his Yamaha, the speed Bezzecchi had could have seen him challenge the Frenchman still.

At Assen, Marquez openly admits he wasn’t the fastest rider that weekend. But he was able to get to the front early doors and defend well. Bezzecchi was glued to the rear of the Ducati for most of that Dutch Grand Prix.

Marquez hasn’t had much to fear in 2025, but his caution about the growing Aprilia threat is most definitely warranted.