Jorge Lorenzo made Aprilia title prediction over coffee at Buriram

Jorge Lorenzo told Aprilia its RS-GP was good enough to win the 2026 MotoGP title before a racing lap had been completed this season.

The triple premier-class champion made the prediction to Aprilia technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini over coffee at Buriram.

But it came with a warning that Marco Bezzecchi had to avoid mistakes and finish every race.

That proved to be Bezzecchi's downfall, with Ducati's Marc Marquez eradicating a 102-point deficit to the Italian by Aragon, then hunting down the other Aprilia of Jorge Martin.

Marquez holds a commanding 60-point lead over Martin and a 74-point advantage over Bezzecchi heading into the final two rounds of this season.

“In Thailand, I had coffee with Fabiano Sterlacchini,” Lorenzo told GPone.com.

“I told him, ‘Looking at how your bike handles in the corners, if Bezzecchi doesn’t make any mistakes and finishes the races, you’ll win the World Championship 100 percent.’

“Aprilia had a bike capable of leaning much more than the Ducati; it was very light, handled exceptionally well, and, above all, had an impressive lean angle.

“With my experience, it was clear. I told Fabiano that if Bezzecchi stayed mistake-free, they would win the title.

“Instead, Bezzecchi crashed out in the opening [Sprint], and further high-profile incidents followed.

“On a technical level, the Aprilia was superior to the Ducati.”

But Ducati had the superior rider.

“But Marquez is Marquez: he’s the Ayrton Senna of motorcycle racing, the Max Verstappen of motorcycle racing," Lorenzo said/

"Technically, he’s on another level.”

Lorenzo lost the 2013 World Championship to then-rookie Marquez at the final round.

He later inflicted Marquez's first MotoGP title defeat in 2015, when the Honda rider was third behind the Yamahas of Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.