Has Aprilia overtaken Ducati in the MotoGP pecking order?

VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio believes Aprilia has closed the gap and is probably “ahead” of Ducati in the MotoGP pecking order following Raul Fernandez’s victory in the Australian Grand Prix.

Phillip Island marked the second weekend in a row where Aprilia had a clear advantage over the rest of the field, having previously dominated the Indonesian Grand Prix weekend.

But while a victory at Mandalika slipped away as Marco Bezzecchi made a poor start and then tangled with Ducati’s Marc Marquez, there was no heartbreak for Aprilia this time out as Fernandez took the top spot for its satellite team Trackhouse.

The Noale-based marque swept the entire Phillip Island weekend, having also taken pole position and won the sprint race on Saturday with factory rider Bezzecchi.

Aprilia’s improved form has coincided with a decline in Ducati’s fortunes, with neither of its riders qualifying on the front row or finishing the sprint inside the top four, particularly in the absence of the injured world champion Marquez.

On Sunday, just one Ducati rider reached the podium, as di Giannantonio recovered from 10th on the grid to finish second behind race winner Fernandez.

Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Robert Cianflone / Getty Images

When asked whether the RS-GP has now leapfrogged the Desmosedici to become the best bike on the 2025 MotoGP grid, di Giannantonio said: “Very difficult question. 

“Definitely, our competitors are working in a great way. We saw that every manufacturer is closing the gap with us. We knew that Ducati had a big gap with the other manufacturers, but now Aprilia is more and more closer or even ahead of us. 

“Honda is coming closer, Yamaha too as we saw [Fabio] Quartararo doing many pole positions this year - five [in total]. 

“So, we have to work. For sure, the work we have done this year, [it] could have [been] done better.

“But it's part of racing, it's part of the game. We are a big team, me, VR46 and Ducati, and we are working so hard to make our bike always better and better. 

“I just can't wait to start to work on the 2026 bike to see if we can improve and keep a little gap with the others.”

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing, Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images

However, di Giannantonio’s former team-mate Bezzecchi wouldn’t be drawn when asked if Aprilia now has the best bike in MotoGP, only saying the Noale-based marque has made major strides this year.

“I don't know. For me it's impossible to make a comparison because I don't ride the Ducati; I'm an Aprilia rider,” he said.

“But what I can say is that now I feel super good with my bike. The engineers are doing a wonderful job. And to be honest, we've been quite consistent. 

“Of course, there are tracks where the characteristics of the bike are super good and there are other tracks where the bike is super good anyway, but everyone is a little bit more close, and maybe we have to try to work more. So I don't know [how] to answer you in a specific way, but I think that we are making steps forward.”

Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola went as far as saying that the RS-GP is now the benchmark on certain types of track, but stopped short of calling it the fastest bike overall.

“The bike is competitive. I think that on fast tracks the bike can be considered a reference,” he said.

“On stop-and-go tracks, we are not the reference, but we are not as far as we were in the past. So let's say, on average, the bike is for sure much better, and this is thanks to [technical director] Fabiano [Sterlacchini] and the people in Noale. 

“So I'm very proud of the job that they are doing. 300 [grand prix] victories [across all classes] today. 

“It is something quite special because if you consider that the first victory of Raul and our satellite team is just the 300th [victory for Aprilia].”