Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez’s physical condition and a rear tyre failure culminated in a difficult weekend for the Spaniard at the Thailand Grand Prix.
Question marks were hanging over the Ducati rider heading into the 2026 season opener. Marquez admitted he had not fully recovered from his 2025 shoulder injury after pre-season testing.
But, naturally, that did not rule the 33-year-old out of contention at the Thailand Grand Prix, as he qualified second. He fought for the win in the Sprint race, but Marquez was penalised for a lunge on Pedro Acosta and had to settle for P2.
Davide Tardozzi disagrees with Marc Marquez’s penalty in the Sprint at the Thailand GP
Would Pedro Acosta have made the same move for the lead?
On Sunday, Marquez was in battle with Acosta and Jorge Martin for third as he struggled to keep up with Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez out front. He looked on track for a podium until the rear rim on his Ducati exploded on lap 21 after hitting the kerb at turn four.
The bizarre incident forced him to retire, but it was not the only concern that was raised over the weekend. It was clear that Marquez was still struggling with his physicality.
Marc Marquez looked as ’empty’ as he did during his ‘injury races’ at the Thailand Grand Prix
Marquez admitted he still was not ‘comfortable’ on the bike in Buriram, as his shoulder was not at 100% fitness. Journalist Simon Patterson noted how much the Spaniard was struggling on The Race MotoGP Podcast.
“He says that if he hadn’t had the problem in the race, he would have finished second,” he said after the Thailand GP.
“I don’t know if that’s true because after the sprint on Saturday, he looked as empty as I’ve ever seen Marc Marquez look. Like, he looked as empty as he looked during some of those injury races, whenever you could tell he was in a huge amount of pain.
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“He was empty. Like he was burnt out. And I think what we saw at the start of the race on Sunday didn’t necessarily convince me that he had a lot of physical energy to keep that fight going for another 10, 15 laps.
“I think there would have been a point where the kind of Marc Marquez championship contender reared its head internally over the Marc Marquez ‘I want to beat everyone all the time’ and he would have settled for something a bit…
“Put him [in] contention, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think second was there.”
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Marc Marquez has three weeks to properly recover before the Brazilian Grand Prix
Sylvain Guintoli saw Marquez in ‘deep trouble’ in Thailand, as Ducati were finding it difficult to match Aprilia on the track. The best Ducati rider, Fabio Di Giannantonio, finished over 16 seconds behind race winner Marco Bezzecchi.
Of course, it is early days in 2026, and Marquez has plenty of time to fully recover and mount a serious challenge at the front. In fact, MotoGP now has a three-week gap before the next race in Brazil.
The premier class heads to Goiania at the Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna on 20-22 March. marking the first race in Brazil since 2004.
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