Image source: Alamy Stock Photo
2026 MotoGP World Championship
Round 14
Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera
Sunday 13 September, 12:00
Jorge Martin heads to Misano for Round 14 of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship knowing that his advantage at the top has been significantly reduced, but also believing that the problems which hampered him at Aragon can be overcome.
The Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera takes place on Sunday 13 September at 14:00 CAT, with Martin arriving as championship leader on 256 points. However, the Aprilia Racing rider’s advantage over Marc Marquez has been cut to 19 points, while team-mate Marco Bezzecchi is only 24 points behind.
That represents a significant change from Silverstone, where Martin arrived on a high after going 1-2 across the two MotoGP races. At Aragon, however, he could manage only fifth in both the Sprint and Grand Prix, lacking the pace to challenge for the podium.
Martin insists there was little he could have done differently: “It was difficult, but nothing different from what I expected,” he said after the Grand Prix. “Today the maximum was top-five and I'm happy that I took the maximum. I really want to move forward and think about Misano.”
The key issue was grip. Martin said he recognised as early as Friday that a podium challenge was unlikely, with the lack of traction preventing him from generating the speed required to compete at the front.
“The grip overall was my limit during all the weekend,” he explained. “I was struggling a lot with the grip.”
Rather than gamble with his championship lead, Martin opted to bank valuable points: “I prefer that [than] to take some risks and crash,” he said. “This is what I think I need to do at the moment.”
That approach could become more difficult at Misano, where the pressure will be increased by Marquez’s surge. The Ducati rider has won his last three races at Aragon and has closed dramatically on Martin, while Bezzecchi is also firmly in contention.
Martin, though, remains confident that Aragon’s grip problems will not necessarily follow him to other circuits.
“I feel I'm sliding everywhere and I cannot make speed, I cannot build speed, and that's the issue,” he said. “When the grip is there or tracks where we have grip, this won't be a problem.”
2026 MotoGP WC – Riders’ Standings (top five)
1 – Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) – 256 points
2 – Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) – 237
3 – Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) – 232
4 – Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46) – 208
5 – Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse) – 203
2026 MotoGP WC – Constructors’ Standings (top five)
1 – Aprilia – 374 points
2 – Ducati – 350
3 – KTM – 211
4 – Honda – 122
5 – Yamaha – 73
2026 MotoGP WC – Teams’ Standings (top five)
1 – Aprilia Racing – 461
2 – SuperFile Trackhouse – 389
3 – Ducati Lenovo – 355
4 – Pertamina Enduro VR46 – 252
5 – Red Bull KTM Factory – 241
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