Marco Bezzecchi
Gresini ace Alex Marquez “felt good” on his return from injury in practice at the 2026 Czech Grand Prix, but he is not afraid to stop if he is “endangering” himself or others.
Marquez is competing at Brno this weekend after missing the past two races at Mugello and Balaton Park as a result of his huge crash with KTM star Pedro Acosta in Barcelona. The 30-year-old hit Acosta at speed after his younger Spanish compatriot’s RC16 suddenly stopped.
The violent crash during the Catalan Grand Prix saw Marquez require surgery to have a plate inserted to stabilise his right collarbone. Marquez also sustained a small fracture of his C7 vertebrae, yet the Gresini star is already back as riding a MotoGP bike is “the best training”.
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Alex Marquez will say ‘enough’ if his body tells him to stop at the Czech Grand Prix
Marquez conceded that he is lacking “strength” on his return from injury at Brno going into the weekend, but practice on Friday was largely positive. While fast lap times were not that easily forthcoming, Marquez felt he was “much closer” to the pace than he had anticipated.
READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Czech Grand Prix, including Brno weather forecast
The 2014 Moto3 and 2019 Moto2 champion finished P15 with a best time of 1:52.556 in the timed practice session at the Czech GP, just 0.821 seconds off the best time. But if he feels like him taking part is “endangering” anyone, then Marquez is not afraid to leave Brno early.
Marquez told AS: “I’m going to keep going. In the end, being on a MotoGP bike is the best training, also for your muscles, to get you in the right position.
“It’s true that today I’m exhausted, completely wiped out, but now we’ll work with the physio to get my body back in shape and help it out a bit. It’s true that I can’t do every lap at 100%, I have to manage it quite a bit.
“But we’re on the bike and much closer than I expected, honestly. I expected to be a second and a half or two off. But in the end, I felt good. I can’t push the bike too hard, but the times weren’t bad, and we have to keep doing this – lap by lap based on how I feel.
“If I feel good, I’ll push. If not, I’ll hold back, and that’s it. I’ll listen to my body and take it session by session. If I see a moment where it doesn’t make sense and, above all, where I’m endangering my safety and that of others, I’ll say ‘enough’.”
Alex Marquez admits he lacks ‘strength’ in his neck but his muscles were ‘worse’ at home
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It was said ahead of the Czech GP weekend that Marquez should have missed six weeks due to his C7 vertebrae injury. Yet the Gresini racer is already back riding his Ducati Desmosedici GP26 at Brno just a little under five weeks after his crash with Acosta during the Catalan GP.
READ MORE: Ai Ogura’s Brno lap record tops Czech GP practice after Marc Marquez crashes
Yet despite Marquez returning to action sooner than advised, he felt better riding the GP26 during practice at Brno this Friday as his muscles were “worse” at home. In particular, the Spaniard needs to rebuild strength in his neck, especially for when he is reaching top speed.
Marquez added: “It’s in the places I expected, and it’s where I’ve been most inactive. I wore a neck brace for two weeks. Well, my neck, today, after reaching 350km/h, when I have to brake, I lack strength.
“My whole shoulder is quite irritated from the collarbone surgery. That’s where I have to take it step by step and gradually understand things, and that’s it.
“So, much better than I expected, because at home, my muscles were worse. That’s why I wanted to try riding the bike and see how I felt, because it’s improved quite a bit the last few days.”
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