What a year. In terms of length, if nothing else. Twenty-two races – many of them back-to-back – left this writer reeling. And I was sitting down… never mind the riders and pit crews, on the outer edges of their physical and mental resources.
There were other reasons to make it exceptional. Especially two of them.
We all knew Marc Marquez could ride fast, although he needed to prove he could still do it after four years of being crocked. But brother Alex? Wasn’t he something of a lame duck by comparison… getting a factory ride with Honda in 2020 on his brother’s coat-tails, and struggling to justify it?
Well, we were wrong. Marc can win on almost anything, Alex just needed the right bike to show just what he could do. And it really was impressive: the perfect P2 man while Marc hogged P1. And able to take over when Marc got hurt, with two Sprint and one Sunday win, guaranteeing second overall.
So 2025 belonged to the brothers, and they deserved it. But what about 2026?
A potential seismic shift tickled the Richter scale late on, threatening to undermine the continental superiority of Ducati.
First off, their new GP25 was a backward step. Marc’s otherworldly talent hid the fact, but the flawed bike played havoc with the most unfortunate Pecco Bagnaia, whose occasional successes (two wins) were badly bollocksed by shocking last places and embarrassing crashes. Poor Pecco deserved better. So did Fabio Di Giannantonio, ‘rewarded’ with the other factory bike in the satellite Rossi team.
It was blamed on a new power-up engine with different mounting points and nasty habits in the braking phase. With the altered chassis configuration, Ducati couldn’t just drop in last year’s engine. So Pecco and Fabio suffered while Alex Marquez, Franco Morbidelli and rookie GP winner Fermin Aldeguer flourished on their hand-me-down GP24s.
It got worse. Even as Ducati technicians floundered around seeking a solution, Aprilia was going from strength to strength. Once they could only win occasionally on rhythm circuits with fast corners. By year’s end, it seemed they could win almost anywhere, from fast Phillip Island to swoopy Portimao and nadgy Valencia. Marco Bezzecchi won three races, satellite rider Raul Fernandez another. And this was all without expected lead rider Jorge Martin, who got hurt so often and so badly that he started only eight of 22 races.
Bear in mind that all but one of these wins happened when Marc was out, having been knocked flying by Bezzecchi in Indonesia, one week after securing his ninth title, equalling Valentino Rossi (and Mike Hailwood, and Carlo Ubbiali).
The only person who actually beat Marc in a straight fight was brother Alex.
And the rest? Much was expected of Pedro Acosta, but it seemed the KTM – emerging from a life-threatening financial meltdown – wasn’t up to it. He still finished fourth overall, a good effort in the circumstances.
Honda made perhaps not big strides, but definite progress from the bottom of the pile, with frequent crasher Joan Mir taking two late-season dry-weather podiums. But it was Johann Zarco’s canny wet-weather Le Mans win – the result of an inspired tyre gamble, along of course with some inspired riding – that really tipped the balance. They could boast about promotion from concession Category D, but it was only by a tenth of a point, and Zarco’s 25 in France made all the difference.
It only left Yamaha still down in the dumps, and star rider Fabio Quartararo fretting after superhuman efforts gave him five pole positions and five more front rows, but saw him suffer in races, with a best of one Sunday podium and ninth overall.
Never mind. They have a V4 coming. And although it proved dog slow in its few appearances, it can only get better.
