Marco Bezzecchi
The 2026 MotoGP season marks the end of an era as new regulations are due in 2027, but Marc Marquez’s title defence will just be one of the exciting storylines to develop.
Marquez will head into a MotoGP season as the defending champion for the first time since 2020 when the 2026 campaign kicks off in Thailand on March 1. The Spaniard won the 2025 title in his first year with the factory Ducati team, having dominated the field aboard a GP25.
No rival rider could pose a genuine challenge as Marquez won the 2025 MotoGP title with a record five rounds to spare. He won the title in round 17/22, having left the Japanese Grand Prix with a 201-point lead over his brother, Gresini’s Alex Marquez, atop the 2025 standings.
Rank the five factory team line-ups for the 2026 season 👇
The 2025 season would truly be the year of the Marquez brothers, as Marc and Alex became the first siblings to earn first and second place in the premier class standings. Marc also won 11 of the 18 Grands Prix he entered, having missed the final four due to his shoulder surgery.
How Marc Marquez adapts to the Ducati GP26 upon his return from injury will be one of the first storylines to track in 2026, as MotoGP bids goodbye to 1,000cc engines and ride height devices ahead of the 850cc era in 2027. Alex Marquez will also ride a Ducati GP26 in 2026.
The first signs of how the 2026 MotoGP season might develop will become clear during pre-season testing at Sepang (February 3-5) and Buriram (February 21-22). With that in mind, here are some of the boldest early 2026 predictions that MotoGP News feels could happen.
Marco Bezzecchi will fight Marc Marquez for the 2025 MotoGP riders’ title
Marc Marquez was in a different league to the rest of the MotoGP riders after joining Ducati in 2025, as he won 11 Grands Prix and 14 Sprint Races. But the Cervera native having to skip the final four rounds of the season through injury revealed Ducati’s dominance has reduced.
READ MORE: Every MotoGP team’s concessions rank entering the 2026 season
What do you expect Marc Marquez to achieve in 2026?
Gresini ace Alex Marquez won the Malaysian Grand Prix for the only victory by a Ducati pilot during his elder brother’s absence. Instead, Aprilia arguably finished 2025 with the best bike in MotoGP, as Raul Fernandez and Marco Bezzecchi won three of the final four Grands Prix.
Trackhouse rider Fernandez scored his maiden MotoGP victory in the Australian Grand Prix, before factory Aprilia rider Bezzecchi won the final two Grands Prix of 2025 in Portugal and Valencia. Aprilia even took another win over the winter as their leg wings were not banned.
With the 2027 MotoGP regulations on the horizon, no team will want to waste resources on developing their final 1,000cc era bike throughout the 2026 season. So, Bezzecchi should be feeling optimistic that the Aprilia RS-GP will help him fight Ducati’s Marquez for his first title.
Marc Marquez will leave Ducati and return to Honda in the 2027 season
Sticking with Marc Marquez, the 2026 season could even be his second and final season in the factory Ducati team. The 32-year-old is currently out of contract in Borgo Panigale at the end of 2026, and a return to Honda in the 2027 season might very well now be on the cards.
It is said that Marquez likes the idea of a return to Honda in 2027, if the conditions are right. He left the Japanese manufacturer at the end of 2023 to prove to himself that he could still compete at the front of the field by getting on a satellite Ducati at Gresini in the 2024 term.
Honda are fighting Ducati to sign Marquez for 2027, with both brands keen for him to guide them in the 850cc regulations era. The seven-time MotoGP champion will prioritise getting on the best bike possible for the 850cc regulations, as winning is what he desires above all.
Yamaha will win a Grand Prix after Fabio Quartararo announces that he’s leaving
The MotoGP rider market is set to explode in 2026, with most stars due to be out of contract at the end of next term. Only Honda and Yamaha currently have any riders tied down for the 2027 season in LCR’s Johann Zarco plus Diogo Moreira and Pramac’s Toprak Razgatlioglu.
READ MORE: Ranking Valentino Rossi’s top five MotoGP rivalries, including Marc Marquez
The top five when Fabio Quartararo last won a race
Yamaha are also very much at risk of seeing Fabio Quartararo elect to leave at the end of his contract, in pursuit of a return to winning ways after three barren years. Quartararo has told Yamaha that 2026 is “clearly” their final chance to show him that they could win titles again.
The Japanese manufacturer also seemingly already think the Frenchman will leave them. It is said that Yamaha are already planning for Quartararo’s exit, which could easily come before the Iwata outfit finally return to winning ways once they understand their V4 engine in 2026.
Yamaha are committed to developing a V4 engine in the final year of the 1,000cc regulations after ending their inline four programme in 2025. But Quartararo is very likely to decide that enough is enough and leave Yamaha before seeing their efforts deliver a first win since 2022.
Ducati will release Francesco Bagnaia after failing to win a single Grand Prix in 2026
Francesco Bagnaia endured a brutal fall from grace during the 2025 MotoGP season, as the Ducati rider went from fighting for the title in each of the previous four years – and winning it in 2022 and 2023 – to finishing just fifth in the riders’ standings with a meagre 288 points.
READ MORE: The best moments of Francesco Bagnaia’s MotoGP career
Change our minds: Francesco Bagnaia will not fight for the championship in 2026
Marc Marquez even outscored Bagnaia by 257 points through their first year as teammates, despite the Spaniard missing the final four rounds due to injury. Bagnaia could not adapt to Ducati’s ride height device in 2025, and his future in Borgo Panigale is now very much at risk.
It has been suggested that Ducati have already decided to part ways with Bagnaia, with his P5 in the 2025 standings thought to have been the final nail in his coffin. The true final nail would be Bagnaia failing to win a single Grand Prix in 2026, which could easily be possible.
While team manager Davide Tardozzi felt Bagnaia “found his way again” during the Valencia test as Ducati tested their GP26 bike in November, the 28-year-old has yet to prove that the mental scars of his brutal beating at the hands of Marquez throughout 2025 have healed.
Bagnaia also only managed to finish one of the final six Grands Prix in the 2025 term, which weirdly came when he won the Japanese GP from pole position to do the double at Motegi after he also won the Sprint. It was his second win of the season after his victory in America.
It would not be surprising if Bagnaia were to now fail to win a single race in 2026 and Ducati then show him the door, as insane as that would have sounded at the start of 2025. Bagnaia must show Ducati that 2025 was an extremely unusual blip on his CV to seal a new contract.
Toprak Razgatlioglu takes a podium in his rookie MotoGP season with Pramac
Toprak Razgatlioglu may now be a three-time World Superbike champion, but 2026 will see the Turkish legend finally make his debut in MotoGP. Yamaha signed Razgatlioglu to a two-year factory contract in June 2025 and placed him at their satellite team, Pramac, for 2026.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Toprak Razgatlioglu from net worth to nickname
Has Toprak moved to MotoGP too LATE?
Yamaha and Razgatlioglu decided that now is the time for him to move to MotoGP, despite 2026 being the last year of the 1,000cc regulations, as it gives him a chance to learn about the paddock and many of the circuits on the calendar that he did not compete at in WSBK.
The 2027 regulations, when Pirelli will replace Michelin as MotoGP’s tyre provider, is widely expected to be Razgatlioglu’s chance to show the championship his skills. Even Razgatlioglu admits it “won’t be easy” finishing outside the top 10 in MotoGP through his rookie season.
Razgatlioglu thinks it would be “incredible” if he gets a podium in 2026, but the final rounds could see that dream become real. As long as Yamaha develop their 1,000cc V4 engine far enough into the campaign, a rostrum may not actually be as unrealistic as Razgatlioglu fears.
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