Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati star Marc Marquez won his seventh MotoGP riders’ title in 2025, but he is not viewing himself as the defending “champion” now that the 2026 crown is on the line.
Marquez dominated the field after he joined Ducati last season, with a total of 11 Grand Prix wins and 14 Sprint Race victories to his name. The 33-year-old also took eight pole positions and achieved 15 Grand Prix podiums through the 18 rounds that he contested out of the 22.
Such was the Spaniard’s success last season that he even finished the term 78 points clear at the top of the standings, despite sitting out the final four rounds through injury. Marquez won the 2025 MotoGP title with five rounds to spare, after leaving Japan 201 points ahead.
Ducati could even now see Marquez make more history during the 2026 MotoGP season if he wins the riders’ title in the final year of the 1,000cc regulations. Marquez can match the record eight premier class titles that Italian legend Giacomo Agostini won in the 500cc era.
Marco Bezzecchi set the pace in practice at the Thailand Grand Prix. Who is your favourite for pole position?
Marc Marquez only feels like a MotoGP title contender and not the ‘champion’
Yet Marquez’s mindset now that the 2026 MotoGP season has started at the Thailand Grand Prix is that there is no current “champion”, and that he is simply one of the contenders to lift this year’s title. He also does not overlook that he is still coming back from a shoulder injury.
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Marquez’s focus on fighting for the 2026 MotoGP title is also so strong that he is not looking at it being a chance to eclipse the career achievements of his arch-rival, Valentino Rossi. The two titans of two-wheel motorsport are tied with seven titles after Marquez’s 2025 triumph.
“Until practice starts, we are the champions,” Marquez explained to SER Deportivos. “From the moment the green light comes on, there is no champion, only rivals and MotoGP riders who will try to fight for the title.”
Marquez continued: “Right now, we’re coming back from an injury, which we mustn’t forget. But we’ve been doing quite well in testing. Surpass Rossi? The goal is to fight for the title.”
Marc Marquez is having to adapt his riding style to suit Ducati’s bike after his injury
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Marquez needed surgery on his right shoulder in October after suffering a coracoid fracture and ligament damage, following a collision on the opening lap of the Indonesian Grand Prix with Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi. He only got back on a MotoGP bike at the 2026 Sepang test.
The Spaniard is still trying to get back to full fitness, as well, and he admitted this Thursday ahead of the Thailand Grand that “I cannot ride the bike in the same way as last year”. The effects of Marquez’s injury are forcing him to adjust his riding style for Ducati’s 2026 bike.
Marquez said in the official press conference in Buriram this Thursday about his decision to use Ducati’s 2024 front aero package: “The fact that I stepped back in aerodynamics, one of the reasons is because I cannot ride the bike in the same way as last year at the moment.
“So, the 2025 aerodynamics was a little bit more heavy, the bike, more demanding for the physical condition, and then just I’m trying to adapt my riding style to what I have now in my physical condition.”
Sylvain Guintoli thinks Marquez is “in trouble” after seeing his “body language” on Ducati’s GP26 during practice at the Thailand GP this Friday. The Cervera native largely did not look comfortable and struggled to find pace in Buriram, yet pulled out a fast lap at the very end.
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