Jorge Lorenzo says Marc Marquez will ‘lose something’ when he returns from injury

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Marc Marquez will be in Valencia this weekend for the MotoGP awards ceremony, but he won’t be riding the Ducati bike. It was decided that he should skip both the race and the test as he recovers from injury.

Marquez broke his collarbone and damaged ligaments in his shoulder when he collided with Marco Bezzecchi at the start of the Indonesian GP. It was initially thought that he wouldn’t need surgery, but then his doctors changed their minds.

As he revealed in an interview this week, Marquez’s crash triggered ‘alarm’ bells in the immediate aftermath, but he’s been assured that there should be no lasting ‘consequences’.

Marquez hopes to return to the race track ‘well before’ the Sepang test, even if he’ll need to build back up to a MotoGP bike. The test is scheduled for 3-5 February.

Jorge Lorenzo warns Marc Marquez he’ll be lagging behind Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi

Despite Marquez’s assurances, former rival Jorge Lorenzo says he’s bound to ‘lose something’. He can ‘find it again’ in time, but may not be at his peak for the start of the season in Thailand on 27 February.

By contrast, riders like Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi and KTM’s Pedro Acosta will both be in rhythm. Marquez named Bezzecchi and Acosta as title contenders at a recent event.

Marquez won’t be able to offer feedback on the early version of Ducati’s 2026 bike next week, though the team will be aware of his priorities.

Lorenzo said on the Duralavita YouTube channel: “In the current MotoGP, when you go a long time without riding one of these bikes, you lose something. Of course, little by little, you find it again, and with a rider of Marquez’s quality too…

“When the strong rivals like Bezzecchi, Acosta, Martin when he comes back, are already there riding, that doesn’t give you an advantage. There are only two tests – Sepang and Buriram – it’s not like before when we had six winter tests or seven. Now the time on the track in the winter is very limited.

“When he arrives in Sepang, it will be four months without riding after the injury. I think he will also feel, even a little bit. This is my opinion.”

Why Marc Marquez is entitled to an extra MotoGP test next year

Lorenzo points to MotoGP’s compressed pre-season schedule as a problem for Marquez. But crucially, he will be entitled to an extra test.

Marquez will benefit from the Jorge Martin rule next year. The Aprilia rider was allowed to ride a MotoGP bike at Misano before he made his comeback from injury in July.

This is the new arrangement for riders who have been out for a sustained period. It would make most sense for Marquez to join in with the Sepang shakedown on either 29, 30 or 31 January.

The world champion’s huge margin over the field – still 100 points despite his absence from the last three events – suggests he may be able to win the title next year even if he’s not at his best from the outset.