Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez is currently gearing up for his MotoGP return after an extended absence due to injury.
From dirt bikes to go-karts, he has been dipping his toes into every form of motorsport, as he races to get back to full fitness ahead of the 2026 MotoGP season.
Marquez suffered a severe shoulder injury at the Indonesian Grand Prix when Marco Bezzecchi hit the back of him on lap one, sending them tumbling through the gravel.
It was a disappointing end to an incredible first season with Ducati, but it may leave him even hungrier to defend his first title in six years.
What do you expect Marc Marquez to achieve in 2026?
Marquez has noticed Ducati is smaller than Honda, and that their operation is completely different to that of his former team.
Ducati will ‘never’ have Honda’s financial power, according to Carlo Pernat, who believes that the Japanese manufacturer has an advantage in any future contract negotiations with the Spaniard.
READ MORE: Way too early predictions for the 2026 MotoGP season as Marc Marquez faces a new title rival
Davide Tardozzi reveals how Marc Marquez learned his Ducati team’s names in just three races
Davide Tardozzi realised Marquez is a ‘phenomenon’ when he saw him avoid a crash during testing at Sepang, which he knows other riders wouldn’t have been able to get out of.
The Ducati manager has been in awe of the seven-time premier class champion for the majority of the campaign, but recent rumours linked him with a departure, which he has denied.
Speaking in Mat Oxley’s Marc The Magnificent biography, Tardozzi has revealed how quickly Marquez adjusted to his new surroundings in 2025.
“He has a wider way to see and to follow the goal,” he said. “He knows everything around him makes performance. He knows that the bike makes performance, and that the way the team works and helps him solve problems makes performance.
“That’s why he is really deeply concentrated on whoever and whatever is around him. The engineers, the mechanics, his manager, his girlfriend. They all make performance.
“After just a couple of races with us, he already knew the names and the roles of all our engineers and he told me what he had learned from each of them. In three f—— races! He’s so clever to see what’s going on, what can help him and who can help him.”
READ MORE: Davide Tardozzi names one moment from Marc Marquez’s 2025 season that ‘really bothered’ him
Why Marc Marquez should be considered the favourite for the 2026 MotoGP title
Suffering an extended absence wouldn’t have been a part of Marquez’s plans in 2025. After all, he’s been through plenty of hardship in his career.
But when Bezzecchi took him out at Mandalika, he came to his defence immediately, admitting it was a mistake that anyone could make.
With the MotoGP rider market set to be fascinating in the coming months, leaving Ducati could be a possibility for Marquez. It’s why he’ll want to do especially well in 2026.
The most likely scenario is that he remains for 2027, but Marquez is ‘attracted’ to Honda, and a move back home before he retires wouldn’t come as a surprise.
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