Aprilia has formalised a McLaren-style internal code of conduct for its two title-contending riders after Jorge Martin's first grand prix victory on the RS-GP closed the gap on championship leader Marco Bezzecchi to a single point.
After five rounds of the 2026 season, Bezzecchi leads with 128 points to Martin's 127, with Fabio Di Giannantonio third on 84, Pedro Acosta fourth on 83 and Ai Ogura fifth on 67. Aprilia's lockout of Le Mans — Martin from Bezzecchi from Ogura — was the marque's first ever 1-2-3 in MotoGP and stretched the gap to the third-placed manufacturer rider to more than a full grand prix weekend.
CEO Massimo Rivola, addressing reporters after Le Mans, said the framework for handling the in-house duel was now in place and that it borrowed openly from the approach Andrea Stella has taken with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at McLaren Formula 1.
"I believe I have two riders who, in addition to being fast, are two great professionals. I believe they will respect each other. They know the rules perfectly. What we call the black rule," Rivola said. "Management today is very simple. The only rule we have is respect. When two riders lack respect, you can see it immediately. Today's overtaking move — Marco eased off the brakes a bit to try, but it was a fair pass. As long as teammates overtake each other like that, it's fine."
Aprilia has been explicit about its disinclination to issue team orders unless the maths require it. The Le Mans victory was Martin's first grand prix win since the 2024 Indonesian Grand Prix, ending a 588-day drought that included the contract drama and multiple surgeries of his ill-fated stay at the factory.
"What a weekend for Aprilia. This is our first time occupying the top three positions in a Grand Prix and I'm thrilled to be part of it," Martin said. "I've learned to appreciate the tough moments because they shape you. All the struggles made me a better man and rider."
"Absolutely. Marco is my motivation. We push each other to the limit, and that's what makes us strong."
Bezzecchi's response to losing 24 of a possible 25 points to his teammate over a weekend has been characteristically calm. The Italian became the first rider since Valentino Rossi in 2015 to take a podium in each of a season's first five races, and his post-Le Mans comments betrayed no hint of alarm.
"I'm just focused on keeping up this momentum," Bezzecchi said.
For Rivola, the test of Aprilia's "black rules" will come when the inevitable on-track flashpoint arrives. The CEO has hinted that team orders are not off the table forever — they simply will not be deployed unless and until one rider is mathematically eliminated. Until then, Aprilia's noumberone job is to keep its bikes ahead of the rest, an exercise complicated by the fact that Marc Marquez has been ruled out of the next two races with the fractured foot he sustained at Le Mans.
If the early Aprilia evidence holds, the championship picture is no longer a multi-bike Ducati fight but a two-rider factory family affair. Bezzecchi's three wins from the first three rounds gave him a buffer that has now been almost entirely erased; Martin's Le Mans charge from seventh on the grid demonstrated that the RS-GP can be ridden in two distinct ways and still produce victories. Catalunya, where Di Giannantonio inherited a chaotic 16-lap restart, may have offered a respite — but the next two months in Europe will determine whether the black rules survive their first contact with a points table that refuses to settle.
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