Marc Marquez between courage and pain: his shoulder remains a concern

Marc Marquez draws the curtain on the Mugello GP with a fifth place in Saturday’s MotoGP Sprint and seventh in the race. A rather meager haul for the Cervera champion, still dealing with the aftereffects of his latest injury suffered at Le Mans. For the nine-time world champion, this marks the eighth return to the track since the serious crash at Jerez in 2020.

Once again, Marco Bezzecchi steps onto the top step of the podium with his Aprilia. The rider from Romagna, with his fourth win of the season out of seven GPs, becomes a true candidate for the 2026 world title, and for Marc Marquez it will be difficult to make up the gap in the standings, which has swelled to 102 points. The Lenovo Ducati team ace is still contending with a less-than-perfect physical condition.

Yet, on a very tough and tricky circuit like Mugello, the weekend’s result is to be considered almost excellent. He delivers a spectacular on-track duel with Pedro Acosta, his future teammate, with the KTM standard-bearer coming out on top. But it’s only a preview of what we will see next MotoGP season, when the two Spaniards will wear the same colors and ride the same bike.

The Italian Grand Prix was a true challenge for Marc Marquez. Many in his place would have preferred to wait for the next circuit to return after surgery. "The decision to race here at Mugello was a brave one, because it’s a circuit where you don’t feel comfortable if you’re already injured, especially after an operation. But I decided to come and I think we did very well this weekend," said the reigning MotoGP champion. In the early stages he pushed to the limit, before easing off at the end when his strength ran low.

The fight for sixth place fired up the crowd, but in the end he had to concede it to young Pedro. "In the battle with Acosta I had a superior bike, so I relied on my experience. I knew that if he passed me in the final part of the circuit, I would pass him again on the straight. I played my cards well there, until Ogura and Di Giannantonio arrived, who were much faster, and that’s where my chances ended." Maximum focus and caution: those were the watchwords for Marquez on the Tuscan track. "The two Arrabbiata corners are no longer my strong point; I lost more time than usual, because crashes here are costly."

The end of the race was really tough for Marc, but it’s part of the recovery process. The muscles started to tighten and hurt. "You have to breathe. Obviously, the sudden acceleration comes in those two or three corners, but, well, I saw that at the end of the race he was much faster than us. I was completely out of shape on the bike and even with a small movement I wouldn’t have been able to avoid a crash. That’s when I decided to throw in the towel and finish wherever I ended up. If someone had been behind me, they would have definitely overtaken me."

How long will it take to fully recover? Hard to say, but in a few days the MotoGP World Championship is back in action in Hungary. The circuit promises to be less arduous than Mugello; we’ll see how Marc Marquez’s shoulder responds. Meanwhile, doubts arise about the champion’s full recovery who, after last year’s crash at Mandalika, has not been the same aboard the Ducati Desmosedici.

"For me, the most important and fundamental thing is that I didn’t have any tingling in my hand. I had full sensation, I was tired, but with sensation, and that was the most important thing. The primary goal of the operation was to improve the neurological aspect. And that has improved. Now, logically, we’ll have to understand where 100% is... I still feel far from where I want to be. The real unknown is whether I’ll be able to reach that level. We’ll try and then we’ll see if it’s possible or not."

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