After a difficult and injury-hit 2025 season, Jorge Martin has re-established himself as one of the leading contenders for the 2026 world championship. Jorge Martin in battling teammate Marco Bezzecchi for the top spot in the standings. In contrast to Bezzecchi, Martin already knows what it takes to win the world title, having experienced the pressure of a championship fight before.

Despite being one of the favourites for the crown, Jorge Martin insists that he is not currently thinking about the championship. Instead, he is concentrating on the daily work required to remain competitive throughout the long season.

As Martin stated.

"I am always going to fight for the title, I am always going to fight to be champion, as long as there is a mathematical possibility. But thinking about that, about the title, right now contributes absolutely nothing to me. What contributes to me is working every day at home, getting up early every morning and training for seven straight hours, and that is what will lead me, at the end of the year, to fight for the title, or not. We will see."

Marc Marquez is set to return to action at the Italian GP 2026 after missing the Catalan GP and part of the French GP due to injury. Marqauez has endured a difficult campaign so far, struggling with physical problems and inconsistency after the injuries sustained earlier in the season.

Kevin Schwantz believes Marc Marquez is still fully capable of turning the situation around. Schwantz pointed to Marquez’s previous comeback successes as proof that Marquez should never be ruled out.

As Schwantz stated.

"I think we’ll have to wait and see. Above all, we need to see when Marc gets back on the bike. Every time you come back from an injury, it’s much harder. It was brilliant to see him, after three years without winning a race, go on to win the world title in such dominant fashion last year. It’s Marc Marquez – who knows? If anyone can do it, it’s him."

Marc Marquez dominated the 2025 season and comfortably secured another world championship. However Marquez suffered an injury near the end of the year and entered the 2026 season still not fully fit.

Because of the ongoing injury problems, Marc Marquez will most likely not be able to properly defend his title in 2026. According to his brother, Alex Marquez, the priority right now is not the championship fight but recovery and returning to full fitness.

As Alex Marquez explained.

"First of all, we need to see when he’ll be back – whether he’ll miss one, two, three or four races. I don’t know; nobody can say. When the time comes, we can discuss whether he still has a chance or not.

It’s still too early to say. But at the moment, he’s not thinking about the championship; he’s focused on recovering."

It is increasingly looking as though Aprilia factory riders Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi will battle each other for the 2026 world championship.

With the possibility of securing the manufacturer’s first premier class riders’ title, Aprilia appears unwilling to impose team orders or favour one rider over the other at this stage of the season.

Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola explained that the team currently operates under one clear principle. Mutual respect between both riders.

As Rivola stated.

"The simple rule is that they must respect each other. If they will do that, there will be no problem. The ones who have the most luck will make it. If they don’t do that, then I will need to do my job and remind them that they have to respect each other.

I don’t think we need to get angry; I get angry when there’s no respect between the people. This is not the case so far, so I cannot tell you if we can or not!"

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Marc Marquez has endured a difficult start to the 2026 season. Marquez is still searching for his first full-distance race victory and has struggled to match the pace of the front runners so far.

While things can still change as the season progresses, Marquez admitted that he currently does not have the speed required to challenge for the world championship.

As Marquez explained.

"I’m the first to try and look at things optimistically, but at the same time, realistically. At the moment, we’re not riding at our best, nor do we have the pace. I mean, my pace to fight for the world championship."

Jorge Martin became World Champion in 2024. Martin was unable to defend his title in 2025, with his season disrupted by injuries and uncertainty surrounding his future.

Now competing with Aprilia in 2026, Jorge Martin has once again placed himself in championship contention. However, Martin admits that his mindset has shifted after already achieving his career goal.

As Martin told.

"My ambition and my drive haven’t changed because I still want to be just as competitive. That doesn’t change a thing. It’s clear that competing now that I’ve already won a world title does change the pressure, because I’ve already achieved my dream, I’ve already got what I wanted, and now I want to do it again, but I no longer have that sense of urgency. Perhaps without that hunger, I can ride in a more natural way, and that could work in my favour later on."