How Ducati sees the 2026 MotoGP title battle shaping up

Ducati’s general manager Gigi Dall’Igna believes the 2026 MotoGP title will be won by the rider who “keeps their head” in the remaining races.

After 13 rounds of the scheduled 22 events this season, the title battle remains tightly bunched, though three riders are now emerging as the key players.

Aprilia’s Jorge Martin leads the way by 19 points over Ducati’s Marc Marquez, while Marco Bezzecchi is 24 points off the lead on the sister factory team Aprilia.

Aprilia and Ducati hold a clear advantage over the rest of the field in terms of bike performance, though the pendulum has swung between both brands from race to race.

Looking at the championship battle as it enters its final stretch, Dall’Igna says consistency will be the deciding factor.

“In my opinion, this world championship will be won by whoever keeps their head from now until the end of the season,” he told Sky Italy.

“It will be important to score points and not make mistakes, because recent history shows that it is not important to win 11 races.

“But it can be enough to win a few less. But you do have to be more consistent and, above all, not score zeroes.”

Dall’Igna is referring to the 2024 title battle between Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia, when the latter scored 11 victories but missed out on the title by 10 points.

Martin only had three grand prix wins that year, but was more consistent than Bagnaia, who suffered numerous non-scores in sprints and main races.

Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi are now equal on four grands prix wins for the season, while current championship leader Martin has just one to his credit.

Martin has one 37-point weekend to his credit, while Marquez has three and Bezzecchi is yet to win a sprint.

Marquez missed two grands prix due to injury, and was 102 points down on the championship lead after the Italian Grand Prix when he returned.

But Bezzecchi’s points lead was wiped away when he suffered a run of four successive Sunday non-scores to the summer break.

Martin hasn’t been the fastest Aprilia consistently this season, but has continued to bank points, while failing to score in just two grands prix so far.

At this stage of the season, neither Marquez nor Bezzecchi are fully fit.

Marquez is still struggling with the physical condition of his right shoulder following the complicated fracture he suffered in a collision in Indonesia last season.

He had surgery on it this year to correct an issue where metalwork was touching his radial nerve, which impacted his riding in the early races.

Bezzecchi suffered a collarbone and knee injury in a crash in Germany, which he is still recovering from.