Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez’s absence from the final rounds of the 2025 campaign has allowed other riders to take his spotlight, and Neil Hodgson has identified who will be the seven-time world champion’s main threat next season.
The Spaniard has been in a league of his own for the entirety of his debut season with the factory Ducati team, winning 25 out of the 36 races he competed in before his unfortunate injury at the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Marquez has answered every question asked of him following his shock move to the Italian constructor ahead of the 2024 season as he’s returned to his former world-beating form that saw him win six world titles in his first seven years in the premier class.
All that is left for the 32-year-old to do is secure an eighth world title and move himself above his MotoGP nemesis, Valentino Rossi. But it’s clear he will face more of a fight next season, and that fight may come from someone who is a little bit closer to home than his other on-track rivals.
READ MORE: Marc Marquez told the only MotoGP rider he should truly ‘fear’ in 2026 title defence
Neil Hodgson thinks Alex Marquez will be Marc Marquez’s ‘main threat’ in MotoGP next season
During TNT Sports’ coverage of the final Sprint race of the season at the Valencia Grand Prix, former MotoGP rider Neil Hodgson hailed the performance of Alex Marquez, who took his third victory of the season on home soil in dominant fashion.
The Gresini rider didn’t put a foot wrong as he usurped Marco Bezzecchi for the lead of the race at the drop of the lights, and remained there until the chequered flag fell after 13 laps.
As co-commentator Gavin Emmett tipped Bezzecchi to be a candidate for the biggest surprise of the season, Hodgson passionately chimed in with his own opinion, saying, “It’s absolutely Alex Marquez.
“To finish second in the world, in a satellite team, on a year-old bike. Yes, I know, as it’s turned out, the ’25 Ducati is no better than his, but he has finished how many points ahead of third? He’s absolutely demolished third in the championship.
“He’s won races, and he’s had performances like this. He is the surprise package, and do you know what? I’m saying it now, he is Marc [Marquez]’s, his brother’s, main threat for next year. He is so underrated, so underrated.”
During his own verdict on who can challenge him for next year’s crown, Marc Marquez identified his brother as a serious contender.
The younger Marquez will be riding on the exact same spec of bike as the factory Ducati man, meaning that the only thing that can separate them is their own individual skillset.
READ MORE: MotoGP Sprint race results as Alex Marquez takes victory ahead of Pedro Acosta in Valencia
Alex Marquez’s performance in the Valencia Sprint race changed Neil Hodgson’s mind on the 2026 title contenders
Hodgson’s verdict on Alex Marquez being a contender seems to have emerged upon his impressive performance in the Valencia Sprint race.
The former MotoGP rider wrote a column for TNT Sports on the day prior to the race weekend, where he stated the names of three riders who are the only ones capable of taking the fight to the high-flying Spaniard.
He wrote, “I think that the next generation coming through, with Fermin Aldeguer and Pedro Acosta, and potentially Marco Bezzecchi, are the only riders right now who are showing the potential to eventually be able to challenge Marquez.
“Nobody else looks capable of taking it to the world champion.”
As the younger brother of the seven-time world champion, Alex Marquez has had to spend the majority of his career in his shadow.
It has been present during the current campaign too, with one Gresini director sharing his fury over the coverage of Marquez during the best season of his career thus far.
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