2026 MotoGP season preview: rivalries, rookies and an early silly season
25 February 2026MotoGP rarely needs encouragement to deliver drama, but the tension coming together for 2026 feels particularly palpable.
Familiar rivalries are ready to reignite, manufacturers are jostling for supremacy even before the first race weekend, and beneath it all, a restless rider market is simmering ahead of a new era of regulations.
As the paddock prepares to reconvene in Thailand, these are the key storylines set to define the 2026 MotoGP season.
Marquez vs Marquez: a family affair
If the early test data is anything to go by, the prospect of an all-Marquez clash for the title is even more probable than it was in 2025.
Alex Marquez arrives in 2026 armed with factory Ducati machinery for the first time, and immediately looked at home. He topped the timesheets overall in Sepang and backed it up with strong, consistent race runs in Buriram, where only Ai Ogura and Francesco Bagnaia edged him over longer stints.
Marc Marquez, meanwhile, remains MotoGP’s force of nature, even with question marks hovering. The shoulder injury he picked up late in the 2025 campaign still lingers, and while he looked competitive across both pre-season tests, there is a sense that he may start the year a little more timid, if he knows the meaning of the word, that is.
Alex pushed his older-spec Ducati remarkably close to Marc last season, and now the equipment gap has vanished. If Marc is forced into restraint early on, the championship fight between the brothers could tighten into something genuinely fascinating.
Aprilia: A genuine threat?
Aprilia’s winter form has been impossible to ignore, but as is often the case in testing, the same question lingers: how real is it?
Buriram offered the most compelling evidence yet. Marco Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura locked out the top two positions on outright pace, with Ogura also emerging as the benchmark in race simulations. Add Bezzecchi’s second-fastest time in Sepang, and the data suggests this isn’t a one-track wonder.
If the long-run speed translates into results on Sunday, Aprilia could be set to carry its late-2025 momentum into 2026, not as outsiders, but as genuine threats for the title.
All eyes on Toprak’s MotoGP adaptation
There have been few arrivals in recent years that have generated as much curiosity as Toprak Razgatlıoğlu’s move across from WorldSBK.
The three-time champion joins MotoGP with Prima Pramac and brings a riding style that thrives on aggression, late braking and instinct. Translating that approach to MotoGP machinery was always going to take time, and the early testing numbers – two seconds shy of the pace – reflected that reality.
For a rider learning new bikes, tyres and electronics all at once, winter testing was always going to be about understanding the series’ fundamentals rather than statement times. The real measure of Toprak’s debut season will come in his rate of progression, not his opening laps.
The rider market is already shaping the future
With a new era of technical regulations on the horizon and more than 80 per cent of the grid out of contract at the end of the season, the sport has created the perfect conditions for an early silly season.
Of the five MotoGP world champions currently on the grid, several could see their long-term futures resolved very early in the season. Fabio Quartararo was the first domino to wobble when reports emerged linking the 2021 champion with a switch to Honda.
That, in turn, has opened the door for Jorge Martin to emerge as a leading candidate for Yamaha’s top seat. After an injury-ravaged debut year with Aprilia and a turbulent contractual saga that previously pointed him towards Honda, Martin now appears poised to re-enter the factory spotlight sooner rather than later.
Then, there is Francesco Bagnaia. Rumours of a future switch to Aprilia have gathered momentum. That could see the Bologna factory make an aggressive play for Pedro Acosta, pairing him with Marc Marquez in an all-Spanish line-up.
Add in the looming unknowns of future technical regulations and it becomes clear that decisions made in the early months of 2026 may shape the competitive order well beyond 2027.
