Marc Marquez, Ducati confirms: return to Mugello still uncertain

The nine-time world champion isn’t racing in Catalonia—will he be back in Italy? Tardozzi weighed in.

Even though leaving Honda for Ducati let him start having fun and winning again, Marc Marquez’s problems haven’t ended. At the 2025 Indonesian Grand Prix he was struck by Marco Bezzecchi and injured his right arm, the same one already severely tested by the Jerez crash in 2020; and in the last sprint race at Le Mans, a fall caused an injury to his right foot, forcing him to return to the operating room and miss this weekend’s Catalan GP.

Taking advantage of this enforced break, in Madrid he underwent surgery on both his foot (fourth and fifth metatarsals) and his right shoulder, where doctors removed two screws and a bone fragment left over from a previous Latarjet procedure (December 2019) that had shifted and was compressing the radial nerve. The second operation had been planned for the week after the Barcelona GP, but it was brought forward due to what happened in France.

Davide Tardozzi, interviewed by Sky Sport MotoGP, took stock of the nine-time world champion’s situation after the two surgeries: "It went well; we need to wait a bit to fully understand what his physical possibilities will be in the near future. Right now, we still can’t indicate a date for his return, because there’s nothing that tells us with certainty when he’ll be able to come back. The goal is to return as soon as possible, but we can’t yet say that he’ll be able to do so at Mugello."

The Ducati team manager can’t commit to a return date yet. The rider surely hopes to take part in the Italian Grand Prix (May 29–31), but at the same time he’ll have to listen to his body and follow the doctors’ guidelines. His team doesn’t intend to put any pressure on him—he’ll only return when Marquez is in a condition to race without risk. Having already endured an ordeal after the 2020 injury, the Spaniard knows that rushing back can be a big mistake.

If he’s not present at Mugello, Ducati will have to replace him. The rules allow them not to replace him this weekend in Barcelona, immediately following the one in which the injury occurred, but at the end of May there must be someone alongside Pecco Bagnaia in the red garage. It can’t be Nicolò Bulega, as he’ll be busy with the Aruba Ducati team at the Superbike round in Aragon. Most likely, test rider Michele Pirro will be called upon to ride the reigning MotoGP champion’s Desmosedici GP26.