Marco Bezzecchi
Marco Melandri has claimed that Marc Marquez is now at his ‘physical limit’ in MotoGP after his performance at the Spanish GP, which saw him crash out of yet another premier-class race.
As the 2026 MotoGP season ensues, a pattern is slowly starting to emerge in Marc Marquez’s results. The reigning world champion has secured three podiums across both race formats this year, with all three of them coming in the shorter Sprint races.
The Grands Prix have been a different story. Having taken the chequered flag on just two occasions in the longer format, his best result remains the P4 Marquez claimed at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
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Ahead of the most recent round of racing at Jerez, Marquez told his Ducati engineers that he doesn’t want to hear talk of his fitness inside the Bologna Bullets’ box.
However, it’s clear to see that Marquez’s quality of performance in the Sprints versus the Grand Prix indicates that he is struggling with the extra physical strain that the longer format races have on him, which has also been identified by one of his former rivals.
Marco Melandri claims Marc Marquez is now at his ‘physical limit’ in MotoGP
Speaking via the Chiacchiere da Box podcast alongside F1 pundit Davide Valsecchi, former MotoGP star Marco Melandri issued a verdict on Marquez’s fitness following his performance at the Spanish Grand Prix.
During the three-week break that preceded the race weekend in Jerez, Marquez highlighted that he no longer knows what 100% fitness looks like to him, due to the multitude of injury setbacks he has experienced in recent years.
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Melandri shared his view that the reigning world champion is now at his ‘physical limit’, and doubts that he will improve any further in that regard.
“Physically speaking, I’d say Marquez is at this level; he won’t improve any further because they’ve been out of action for three weeks and he hasn’t improved since the other races, so I reckon this is now his physical limit, and he’ll just have to live with it,” he said.
“There will be some tough tracks, because at Le Mans you’re braking a lot and staying on the right-hand side, Mugello has all those changes of direction, and it’s not easy, Assen is physically gruelling.
“Some won’t be as easy as you say, or they’ll find that little something that allows them to make a leap in quality, pushing less hard; otherwise, always having to chase, always going flat out, starts to become a struggle.”
Jorge Lorenzo was concerned about Marc Marquez at the Spanish GP
Marquez’s physical status caught the eye of many during the race weekend at Jerez, including his formerly fierce rival, Jorge Lorenzo.
During his commentary duties for DAZN, Lorenzo said that Marquez still needs to ‘recover that arm’ after witnessing the Spaniard making concerning gestures on the grid ahead of the Grand Prix.
MotoGP journalist Mat Oxley has also noticed that Marquez holds his arm rather awkwardly during his press briefings, further reinforcing the fact that something isn’t quite right with it at the moment.
The Spaniard now has a two-week break until the next round of racing at Le Mans for the French Grand Prix. Further rehabilitation is expected to happen, as Marquez continues in his attempt to defend his 2025 MotoGP title this year.
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