Podcast: Is Aragon make-or-break for Ducati’s MotoGP title hopes?

The MotoGP season continues this weekend at the Aragon Grand Prix, with all eyes on Ducati and Marc Marquez after a bruising British Grand Prix.

Reigning world champion Marc Marquez’s momentum into the summer break that saw him win three grands prix and wipe a 102-point championship deficit down to 18 points stalled last time out at Silverstone.

Struggling with his still-recovering right shoulder at the fast, flowing layout, Marquez came away from Silverstone scoring just 10 points.

He’s now 40 points behind standings leader Jorge Martin, but comes to an anticlockwise track he has dominated at on the Ducati for the past two years.

It is widely expected that Marquez will be the main threat this weekend at Aragon, and he needs to be to get his championship challenge back on course.

In recent years, Ducati has been dominant at the Spanish venue. But Aprilia has regularly tested that superiority across the 2026 campaign.

After a bruising Silverstone weekend, a more friendly track in Aragon is likely to expose just where Ducati is in the pecking order and could well determine its fate in the 2026 title battle.

Aprilia excels at fast and flowing tracks. Aragon is a bit more stop-and-start, but that hasn’t been such an issue for Aprilia this season, while it will continue to be a big threat through the circuit’s fast sections.

Martin holds a 31-point lead in the championship after winning the sprint at Silverstone and finishing second in the main race.

Having gone back to a set-up he prefers, Martin looked more comfortable at the British Grand Prix.

Team-mate Marco Bezzecchi moved back up to second in the championship after a brace of podiums and will hope to be fitter at Aragon than he was at Silverstone.

Aprilia can likely rely on Trackhouse duo Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura to get among the leading contenders, after the former’s runaway victory at Silverstone.

In the latest Crash MotoGP Podcast, host Amy Reynolds is joined by Lewis Duncan and Peter McLaren to preview this weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix.

They also discuss reports that MotoGP will be featured in an upcoming Netflix heist drama movie, and ask whether or not this will do much for the growth of the championship.

As well as this, the team give their views on the proposed rider market transfer window that is being discussed.

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