Marc Márquez refutes Jorge Martín: back-and-forth at Balaton Park

The reigning world champion is not yet at his best, but in the Aprilia camp they fear him in Hungary: the direct reply from the man himself did not take long to arrive.

Aprilia defeated Ducati at Mugello, where the Borgo Panigale manufacturer had triumphed for four consecutive years, confirming itself as the benchmark of the 2026 MotoGP grid. Marc Marquez was returning and, on a physically demanding track like the Tuscan one, it was hard to imagine he could be right at the front straight away.

His results are not to be thrown away: fourth in qualifying, fifth in the sprint, and seventh in the main race. On Sunday he fought until his right shoulder, operated on last May 10, held up. About 10 laps from the end he had a natural drop-off, and there’s curiosity to see how he’ll fare this weekend at Balaton Park, where in 2025 he dominated by taking pole position and both races. This year he has to deal with a flying Aprilia and physical condition that is not perfect.

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Although Marquez arrived in Hungary not at 100%, Jorge Martin said he is sure we will see him as a major protagonist of this MotoGP weekend: "Marc made the difference here in 2025, he was incredibly dominant. And I think he will continue to be the man to beat this year as well."

The Aprilia rider, twice second at Mugello, is convinced that the nine-time world champion will be a rival to keep an eye on. Rightly so, you can never underestimate someone like Marquez. But his challenge is first and foremost in-house, given that he has a Marco Bezzecchi coming off victory at Mugello and +17 in the overall standings. Balaton Park can be a good track for both, determined to prevail over each other, but with the awareness that the championship is long and that to win the title it will be essential not to make mistakes.

Speaking at the press conference, Marquez explained that he isn’t thinking about the possibility of aiming for the podium or even victory in Hungary: "No, forget it. If I fight for the podium or the win, it will mean the others have done something wrong. Right now Bezzecchi, Martin and other riders are on another level: at Mugello they showed me they are faster".

Martin pointed to him as the rider to beat this weekend at Balaton Park, but the Ducati man reiterates that it will be unlikely to see him in the very top positions: "I know nobody likes pressure, but the riders to beat are the two Aprilias. The battle between them will be interesting, because they are both really fast. Martin already knows what it means to be world champion, but Bezzecchi is riding well and he’s the fastest and most consistent over the weekends. Here I’ll try to stay close to them, but I think it will be impossible".

Moving on to his physical condition, Marc emphasized that compared to Mugello there cannot be a particular improvement, as too little time has passed: "In a few days you can’t feel a big change. I hope to make a nice step forward between Balaton and Brno. I know it will take several weeks to improve my physical condition. The first problem is to fix the nerve, which is connected to the muscles. I felt that some muscles worked better than before at Mugello. My whole back is okay; I need to work on the front of the shoulder, the collarbone and also the biceps. This is the area I injured in Indonesia".