An analysis of the results of the 2025 MotoGP season casts doubt on the claim that Ducati should seriously fear a threat from Aprilia.
The undeniable progress made by Aprilia this year led many observers and experts to claim that Ducati’s dominance in recent seasons was now under threat from the Noale-based manufacturer.
However, an in-depth analysis of this season’s data suggests that the much-discussed Ducati stagnation in the paddock is nothing more than an illusion.
It is undeniable that Ducati’s absolute figures this year are behind those of the previous season. But last season was a record-breaking campaign for the Reds: 19 wins out of a possible 20 (95 percent), 53 podiums out of 60 (88.3 percent), and 14 Grands Prix with a podium consisting solely of Ducati riders. In total, the brand scored 722 out of a maximum possible 740 points (98 percent).
In the recently concluded season, the numbers are not quite as extraordinary, but they are not far off: 17 wins in 22 races (77.3 percent), achieved by four different riders. Added to this are 44 podiums out of 66 (66.6 percent) and seven Grands Prix with three Ducatis on the podium.
In the end, Ducati collected 768 points out of a possible 814 (94 percent). The 2024 ratio has shrunk, yes, but the idea that the 2025 statistics are significantly weaker hardly stands up to closer scrutiny of these figures.
In fact, this was still the second-best season in Ducati’s history. And crucially, several factors had a clear influence on the slight decline.
Fewer bikes and an injured Marquez
Two of these factors stand out in particular: Ducati reduced the number of its bikes from eight to six, and Marc Marquez, the brand’s top rider, suffered a serious injury at the start of the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Due to the damage to his already injured right arm, he missed the last four weekends of the season. Coincidence or not, three of Aprilia’s four victories this year (Australia, Portugal, and Valencia) fell precisely within that period. Equally noteworthy is that Ducati had won 16 of the 18 races held up to Australia, the first race Marquez missed. The only exceptions were Silverstone, where Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi won after Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha suffered engine failure, and Le Mans, where rain gave Johann Zarco and his Honda an unlikely chance.
In addition, Pramac, now Yamaha’s satellite team, left Ducati, leaving two fewer Desmosedicis on the grid, a loss of 25 percent.
And this was not just any quarter, but the reigning 2024 world champion team, which had contributed three wins and 16 podium finishes with Jorge Martin in that season before the Spaniard finally became world champion.
Aprilia is up, but is that enough?
Aprilia, on the other hand, climbed from one victory in 2024 (Maverick Vinales in Austin) to four this season (3x Bezzecchi, 1x Raul Fernandez). That one Texas victory was also the only podium finish in an otherwise difficult year, while Aprilia sprayed Prosecco a total of eleven times in the 2025 season.
Last year’s 302 points (41 percent of the possible total) grew to 418 points (51.4 percent) – an increase of 10 percent. This means that Aprilia recorded the second-largest increase of all manufacturers, surpassed only by Honda.
Certainly a reason to be proud. But to automatically conclude from this that Aprilia is now a real threat to Ducati is a conclusion that even Bezzecchi does not (yet) draw.
“We would like to be rivals to Ducati, but every year is a new story and nothing can be taken for granted. We have to maintain this mentality and focus on our work. Ducati will start as the favorite,“ he analyzed in Valencia, even before clinching his third win of the season on Sunday. ”Marc [Marquez] won the world title with a five-race lead, so two wins are not enough for me to see myself at his level.”