– The fight for the MotoGP title this year is closer than ever before, at least when looking at the standings after 11 race weekends. In the 2026 MotoGP calendar, the standings after 11 race weekends mark exactly the halfway point of the season. The top 5 riders in the World Championship are currently within 24 points. It has never been this close in the MotoGP era since 2002 after 11 race weekends.
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It was similarly close in 2020. At that comparable point, the top 5 in the standings were separated by 28 points. In 2017, it was also close with a 35-point difference. In all other seasons since 2002, the fifth-placed rider after 11 race weekends was already more than 50 points behind the championship leader.
The biggest points difference between the top 5 in the MotoGP era was actually last year, with a whopping 205 points difference. This was mainly due to the winning streak Marc Marquez had in the first half of the season, both in Grands Prix (7 wins in 11 starts) and in sprints (10 wins in 11 starts).
Just one year after Marquez’s dominance, the situation now looks completely different, with the top 5 within only 24 points. The four riders currently directly behind leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia) are Ai Ogura (Trackhouse-Aprilia), Marc Marquez (Ducati), Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), and Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati).
Does no one want to lead the World Championship standings?
Considering that the World Championship standings in the first half of the season were first led by Pedro Acosta (KTM), then by Bezzecchi, then by Martin, then again by Bezzecchi, and now again by Martin, one could provocatively ask whether no one wants to be the hunted in this year’s MotoGP title fight?
“Well, it will definitely be an interesting second half of the season,” says leader Jorge Martin. “The challenge is great because everything is extremely open. Maybe I lead the standings more thanks to others’ mistakes than my own results. But I am leading them.”
Pedro Acosta led the overall standings in 2026 only very briefly, namely right after his sprint win at the season opener in Buriram (Thailand). He states it directly: “It looks like no one wants to lead the World Championship standings. But I think Marc is currently the one to beat.”
With this, Acosta is of course referring to Marc Marquez and his successful comeback after the recent break (shoulder and foot surgery). Since the Mugello weekend at the end of May, the defending champion has been back on his factory Ducati. In the five race weekends since then, he has won three Grands Prix and two sprints.
Marco Bezzecchi, on the other hand, who won the first three Grands Prix of the year, is only fourth overall at the halfway point of the season after recording four zeros in the last four race Sundays (two retirements, one race ban, one absence due to injury).
Looking only at these last four race weekends – Balaton Park, Brno, Assen, Sachsenring – Marquez has made up an incredible 108 points on Bezzecchi. And on Sachsenring Sunday, Marquez actually overtook Bezzecchi in the 2026 World Championship points.
Pedro Acosta sees upward trend compared to 2025, but …
Pedro Acosta, the first World Championship leader this season, is now “only” seventh in the standings at the halfway point. He is still waiting for his first Grand Prix win. Nevertheless, the KTM factory rider gives himself a good personal assessment.
“This year is the first in which I would give myself a good rating for my own performance, I would say a 7 [out of 10]. But if you look at the overall picture, it would probably be more like a 4,” says Acosta.
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What Acosta means by “overall picture” is the unusually high number of technical failures that cost him a lot of points in the first half of the season: “We had many technical problems. I lost points because of that in Barcelona, in Brno as well, in Assen too. Otherwise, we would certainly be further up, but it is what it is.”
“Therefore,” Acosta continues, “I would give an overall rating of 5 or 6, let’s say a 5. Compared to last year, I didn’t make many mistakes in the first half of the season this time. During the summer break, it is now important for us to understand the technical problems and what we need to do to solve them.”
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Francesco Bagnaia feels reminded of 2020
One rider who is also outside the top 5 in the World Championship standings at the halfway point of the 2026 MotoGP season is two-time MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia. Although he achieved four top-3 results in 11 Grands Prix and also four top-3 results in 11 sprints (including one win) in the first half of the season, he appears only eighth with a 65-point deficit to leader Jorge Martin, directly behind Acosta.
What is Bagnaia’s assessment of this year’s World Championship fight? “I think it is wrong to say that no one wants to win this title. Everyone wants to win it because everyone is giving their best,” the Ducati factory rider makes clear.
Bagnaia continues: “This year is the first in which Ducati is not as dominant as in previous years. There are more motorcycles that are competitive. It is more like it was in 2020. That leads to closer competition.”
“In one race, you can make up 20 points, in another only one point, and in yet another you can lose 20 points. Much depends this year on how well you feel on your bike,” says Bagnaia.
Ai Ogura the dark horse for the title?
Although Marco Bezzecchi, who led the World Championship standings for much of the first half of the season, is currently only fourth, “‘Bez’ is still the fastest at Aprilia in my opinion,” says Bagnaia about his future teammate.
While Pedro Acosta switches from KTM to Ducati for the 2027 MotoGP season, replacing Bagnaia there, Bagnaia moves to Aprilia and replaces current leader Jorge Martin (MotoGP 2027: Who rides where? All transfers and contracts at a glance.)
And what about Ai Ogura? The Japanese rider for the Aprilia satellite team Trackhouse has pushed himself into second place behind Martin in the first half of the 2026 season with consistently strong results, including his first-ever MotoGP win in Assen. Before the start of the second half of the season, only 14 points separate Martin and Ogura.
“Ogura is doing a fantastic job. He is always competitive,” praises Bagnaia and analyzes: “If he also manages to be competitive in the first laps of the races in the future, then he will fight for the win every Sunday.”
Crutchlow believes in Marquez, Martin believes in World Championship chance against Marquez
By the way: MotoGP returnee Cal Crutchlow has a clear favorite when asked who will be world champion in 2026. He believes that Marc Marquez will successfully defend his title despite missing two Grands Prix (France and Catalonia).
“The technical packages at the front of the field are very close. That means it will come down to who the best rider is. And I think we all know who the best rider is. That’s why I still believe he is the one who will win the World Championship,” says Crutchlow.
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And what does leader Jorge Martin say about the prospect of fighting the seven-time and current MotoGP world champion for the 2026 title? “Beating the best rider of all time is of course a great challenge. I will do my best and try to improve day by day. If I manage to fight him until the end of the season, that would be incredible,” says Martin about Marquez.
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The 2024 MotoGP world champion does not see himself as a complete underdog in the 2026 title fight. “Let’s wait and see. At the moment, Marc is riding at a higher level than us. But I firmly believe that with my 100 percent I will be able to fight Marc. At the moment, we still lack a lot for that, but I firmly believe in it,” says Martin.
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