Marco Bezzecchi
Dani Pedrosa has expressed concern over Marc Marquez’s 2026 MotoGP title chances, with the reigning champion clearly not ‘at his best’ right now.
Marquez has scored 34 points across the first two race weekends of the season, which puts him 22 behind the dominant Marco Bezzecchi. He finished fourth in Brazil last time out.
There have been signs of encouragement for the Ducati rider, who won the Goiania Sprint after fighting Pedro Acosta until the end during the Saturday race in Thailand. He also believes he could have scored a podium in Buriram were it not for a race-ending tyre failure.
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Dani Pedrosa says Marc Marquez is in damage limitation mode
Even though it’s early in the season and there are clear mitigating circumstances, Pedrosa is concerned about Marquez. He says his former teammate only wins the title when he starts well.
But Marquez entered 2026 still not fully recovered from the shoulder injury that ended his 2025 season.
What’s more, Luigi Dall’Igna admits Marquez is not yet comfortable on the bike, having been the only rider who could consistently tame Ducati’s troublesome GP25 last year.
While Marquez may be in damage limitation mode, Pedrosa says Bezzecchi is ‘taking full advantage’, even if the Aprilia rider left 12 points on the table himself by crashing out of the Thailand Sprint from the lead.
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“If you look at the championships Marc has won, I doubt he’s failed to win a race between the first and second rounds. It would possibly be the first time Marc has started the world championship without winning either the first or second race, with the possibility of later winning the title.
“What I mean by this is that we’re seeing a Marc who understands he’s not at his best, whether it’s due to his physical condition, the bike, or both.
“And he’s playing the ‘well, it’s not the best moment, I’m going to get as many points as I can until we turn things around and I’m ready to win’ card. Besides, Bezzecchi is taking full advantage of this.”
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Marquez has produced seven title-winning seasons in the premier class and, in five of those, he’s won at least one of the opening two races. He also won at round one in 2012 before lifting the Moto2 trophy.
But the Spaniard had to wait until round three to grace the top step in 2017 and 2018. Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati ran him fairly close in the first instance, but he prevailed with three races to spare a year later.
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It’s worth noting that, in both of those seasons, the third race took place at the Circuit of the Americas. That further underlines the importance of this weekend’s Grand Prix.
The United States GP is a litmus test for Marquez, as well as Aprilia. If Bezzecchi and Martin can beat him here, at a track Massimo Rivola described as his ‘house’, then Ducati should be seriously concerned.
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