Marco Bezzecchi
Alex Marquez has addressed Marc Marquez’s brutal crash during the French Grand Prix Sprint race at Le Mans, issuing a ‘pure bad luck’ verdict on the incident.
Marc Marquez has had a rollercoaster of a Saturday afternoon at the French Grand Prix. After failing to make it into Q2 after the pre-qualifying practice session on Friday, the factory Ducati star laid down the gauntlet in Q1 to set a brand-new lap record at Le Mans.
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However, the ensuing Sprint race ended in disaster. While running in P7 after a poor launch off the line, Marquez suffered a vicious highside at turn 11 in the latter stages of the race.
The crash launched him into the air and onto his head, and the reigning world champion has now been ruled out of the rest of the race weekend, as well as the ensuing Catalan Grand Prix, due to a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
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Alex Marquez puts Marc Marquez’s brutal crash in Le Mans Sprint down to ‘pure bad luck’
The 33-year-old’s brother, Alex Marquez, ended up taking the chequered flag in Saturday afternoon’s Sprint in P8. He had a front row view of the Ducati star’s dramatic off, having been two places behind him at the time of the accident.
Following the conclusion of the proceedings at Le Mans, he gave his thoughts on the brutality of his older brother’s accident. Speaking via Motosan, Marquez said, “He lost the front end.
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“Normally, it’s a clean crash, the sort that doesn’t have any serious consequences, like the one Pedro Acosta had yesterday at that spot.
“But he was unlucky in that the bike caught the ground again, he lost grip suddenly, and then it pulled away. It was pure bad luck; the outside line here at Le Mans is very slippery; there’s a spot where it slides and then catches.”
MotoGP pundit Neil Hodgson issued an immediate ‘enough is enough’ verdict on Marquez following the incident. The Spaniard has been in and out of the medical centre since the 2026 campaign started, which begs the question of how many more crashes he can take.
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Marc Marquez already planned on undergoing surgery after French GP weekend
Following his visit to the medical centre inside the French GP paddock, Marquez revealed that he had already planned on undergoing surgery between the Le Mans and Barcelona rounds of the season due to an older injury.
The Spaniard revealed that he had been convincing himself that he was okay to compete in the premier class this season following a broken collarbone that he sustained at the Mandalika round of his title-winning 2025 campaign.
However, a visit to the doctors showed that a screw, which was inserted at the time of his horrific crash in 2020, had come loose and was putting pressure on the radial nerve in his right arm.
It’s yet another injury setback for the reigning world champion, whose future has already been in the spotlight in recent months. It remains to be seen how Marquez deals with this one, especially with his history of coming back too soon from injury.
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