Marco Bezzecchi
Dani Pedrosa has told Marc Marquez that he can’t ‘erase’ his past injuries from his mind as he tries to defend the MotoGP world championship.
Both Marquez and the Ducati team have acknowledged that he has not been 100% fit at the start of the 2026 season. He’s still recovering from the shoulder injury that ended his 2025 season with four rounds to go.
Marquez is fifth in the championship ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, 36 points behind the dominant Aprilia of Marco Bezzecchi. With VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio in fourth, he isn’t even the top Ducati as it stands.
Is Marc Marquez now checked out of MotoGP after winning his seventh premier class title?
The Spaniard says he felt 'relief' after getting injured at the following round of the 2025 season at Mandalika.
Marc Marquez’s injuries are ‘ingrained in his subconscious’
In an interview with AS, Marquez’s former teammate Pedrosa explained that every rider reaches a point where they no longer take the same risks.
Marquez’s emphatic championship triumph last year completed one of the sport’s great comebacks after his 2020 arm injury, which ultimately required four surgeries.
But Pedrosa says the psychological effects of that injury will still ‘linger’, and now they have been compounded by his shoulder problems.
Marquez is ‘battered and bruised’ and, at the age of 33, it becomes much harder to ride with a carefree attitude.
Are Marc Marquez’s injuries finally catching up with him?
“Rossi did it back in the day too, but eventually, when you reach a certain age, your efficiency on the track starts to decline, and the risks the younger riders take are much higher than yours. Then, everything reaches a point where it’s no longer possible.
“I don’t know if that’s now or if it will be some time from now, but I think the most decisive factor for Marc in this regard will be his physical condition.
“There are things that, even if you try not to see them or think about them, get ingrained in your subconscious. And there’s something you can’t completely erase or get rid of.
“Then you get back on the bike and little by little you increase your speed, you try more, you regain your confidence, and you convince yourself again that everything is fine.
“But, for example, in my case, or with some injuries I had, or Marc with the ones he had in his arm, there are lingering effects that make you think: ‘My arm is crooked, my ankle isn’t straight…’
“In the end, those things get ingrained somehow and you can’t get rid of them. So, as you get older, it all adds up, and it gets harder and harder to shake it off.”
Dani Pedrosa defends Marc Marquez’s secrecy over injury
While Marquez has been seen nursing his shoulder in the garage, he hasn’t gone into detail about the discomfort he’s experiencing.
According to Pedrosa, even Marquez himself doesn’t know how long it will be before he regains full fitness. He will also be trying to control the story.
Marquez is wary of handing his competitors a psychological advantage if he publicly shows vulnerability.
- READ MORE: Marc Marquez names 2020 Spanish GP as one of his ‘best races’ despite near career-ending injury
“I mean, it’s very logical!” Pedrosa said of his approach. “First, because of your own uncertainty. Right now, you’re in a situation where you don’t know if your injury is improving or if it’s in a process where you don’t know if it will improve further or not. So, you yourself don’t know where it’s headed.
“Then there’s the other possibility: you try not to talk about what’s happening to you so much, because you’ll be answering the same question all day long, and that really overwhelms your brain.
“In the end, it seems like everything revolves around just that, and you can’t focus on anything else or on the competition. So, to avoid that being the focus, you try not to talk about it or think about it all day.
“And the third reason would be that if you’re not feeling well or not 100%, then don’t give too many clues.”
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