Fabio Di Giannantonio has warned that while the 2026 Ducati is "great," it currently lacks the Sunday performance to halt Aprilia’s dominance. After finishing as the top Ducati in fourth at Le Mans, the VR46 rider highlighted that the GP26 struggles to maintain tire life compared to the RS-GP, which recently swept the French GP podium.

Honda HRC has confirmed Johann Zarco and six-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea will join seven-time Suzuka winner Takumi Takahashi for the 2026 Suzuka 8 Hours on July 5, targeting a fifth consecutive victory at the Japanese circuit. Zarco targets a third straight win while Rea makes his first Suzuka appearance since 2022. Rea said there is no doubt about the potential of the Fireblade and that he will give everything to take victory alongside Takumi and Zarco.

Yamaha has confirmed its 2026 Suzuka 8 Hours lineup with the same trio from last year Jack Miller, Andrea Locatelli and Katsuyuki Nakasuga aboard the factory YZF-R1. It will be Nakasuga’s final Suzuka 8 Hours appearance before his retirement, adding extra motivation for the team to go one better than their 2025 runner-up finish. Honda counters with Johann Zarco going for a third consecutive win alongside Jonathan Rea and seven-time Suzuka winner Takumi Takahashi.

Pedro Acosta vowed revenge on Fabio Di Giannantonio after the VR46 rider passed him at the final corner of the last lap at Le Mans to take fourth place, appearing to look back at Acosta during the move. Acosta told Spanish media nobody gets past him while looking at him and they will see each other at the next race. Di Giannantonio said he had to improvise the move after his original plan at Turn 9 failed, calling it a deja vu from a Moto3 pass on Bezzecchi in 2018.

The 1996 Aprilia RS125R ridden by Valentino Rossi to his first ever Grand Prix victory at Brno is heading to auction via RM Sotheby’s Sealed platform, with bidding opening on May 13. The bike is presented in its original 1996 season livery bearing Rossi’s iconic number 46 and is accompanied by factory team sheets, ownership documents and a note from legendary Aprilia team manager Mauro Noccioli. Estimate: 100,000 to 150,000 euros. No reserve.

Aprilia Racing team manager Paolo Bonora refused to declare the RS-GP the best bike in MotoGP despite winning four of the opening five Grands Prix and locking out the Le Mans podium for the first time in the manufacturer’s premier class history. Bonora said the team tells its riders every Wednesday and Thursday that they have achieved nothing yet and to keep working the same way. Aprilia leads all three MotoGP championships.

Francesco Bagnaia said a small issue caused him to progressively lose front end confidence during the French Grand Prix, with the problem worsening lap by lap until he could no longer turn in as he wanted at Turn 3 on lap 16. He confirmed the issue was the same as his Jerez crash, adding that knowing precisely why he crashed actually helps Ducati enormously heading into the Catalan Grand Prix. Bagnaia remains confident a podium was achievable before the problem struck.

Toprak Razgatlioglu said Quartararo’s top six qualifying and race results at Le Mans showed him two things, how much he still needs to improve and how much potential the Yamaha V4 genuinely has. The three time WorldSBK champion finished 13th, 25 seconds behind Quartararo, the equivalent of over a second per lap. He will switch to a setup closer to Quartararo’s at the Catalan Grand Prix to better understand the direction.

Fan footage emerged showing Bagnaia’s immediate reaction to crashing out of second place at Le Mans walking away from his stricken Ducati in the gravel, kicking a plastic doctor’s box and swinging his leg at a marshal post cone before climbing onto a moped. Despite the fury, Bagnaia was surprisingly composed in the media, saying the weekend gave him optimism and that he knows exactly why he crashed the same front end confidence issue that cost him in Spain.