Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez will be gutted to be sitting on the sidelines as Ducati get to work on their bike for the 2026 MotoGP season.
The Spaniard has opted against rushing back for November’s post-season test, which is a critical stage in the development of next year’s bikes. Defending his MotoGP title just became a little bit harder, before even reaching 2026.
Fortunately, Marquez can take solace from the idea that Ducati’s track record is very strong over the last few years. It’s hard to see any scenario where he turns up at the first race next year and isn’t in contention for victory.
Marquez’s pace has demoralised Francesco Bagnaia, but the Italian now gets a crucial opportunity to get ahead of the game for next season. Ducati have confirmed Marquez’s replacement, and the team will continue to use the next few races as a bit of a test for the GP26.
READ MORE: Marc Marquez knows the truth about Ducati’s 2025 bike, but he’ll never admit it to Francesco Bagnaia
Andrea Dovizioso taught Marc Marquez not to underestimate any MotoGP opponent
Marquez’s teammates have said the same thing about him, and it’s something that his other rivals would agree with, too. It’s likely that he would have gone on to break many more records in 2025, without being taken out by Marco Bezzecchi in Indonesia.
But others have benefited from his misfortune. Fermin Aldeguer and Raul Fernandez claimed their first wins, and Bagnaia took a sprint win and pole position in Malaysia.
This year, the seven-time champion’s killer instinct has been on show. It might have been something he developed as part of a lesson he learned when racing ex-Ducati star Andrea Dovizioso back in 2017.
“This year, when the people were asking me ‘Which opponent is the most dangerous?’, I was saying always, ‘Maverick [Vinales], Dani [Pedrosa], Valentino [Rossi], maybe [Jorge] Lorenzo.'” he said.
“But, I never said Dovi. It’s something that I learned this year, that you need to be careful with everybody, and try to pay attention to everybody, because in the beginning of the season it looked like Maverick was the fastest one, but in the end, the most constant, the most complete guy to fight for the title was Dovi.”
READ MORE: Carlo Pernat highlights the ‘unrepeatable’ aspect of Marc Marquez’s 2025 title win with Ducati
How did the 2017 MotoGP battle between Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso play out?
Although Dovizioso finished second to Marquez by a total of 37 points, he wasn’t helped by a retirement at the season finale or a 13th in Australia two races prior.
He was a legitimate title contender, but a bad qualifying at Phillip Island would end up stripping him of crucial points and put him on the back foot for the rest of the year.
In Valencia, he had nothing to lose and everything to gain when he crashed out chasing Marquez. After entering the season as an outsider, his performance was still impressive.
Marquez has been spectacular since leaving Honda, and it’s something that even his rivals have recognised. Part of the reason for that is the learnings he took from his younger years, such as in 2017.
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