Marquez puts the pressure on the Aprilia riders: the responses from Bezzecchi and Martin

Marquez arrives in Spain in good shape, but sees Aprilia as the favorite over Ducati: Bezzecchi and Martin have responded.

After dominating the 2025 MotoGP championship, Marc Marquez is currently in fifth place in the overall standings, 36 points behind leader Marco Bezzecchi. It’s understandable to consider Aprilia the title favorite, with Jorge Martin also in second, but there are still too many Grands Prix left in the season to already write off a phenomenon like Marquez and a team like Ducati. This weekend they race at Jerez and the goal is clear: to win.

Asked in Jerez about his physical condition, the nine-time world champion made it clear that he’s fine and that the break helped him: "They’re good - reportsMotosan- We had three full weeks at home and I think they helped me take another step forward. I can say I’m at an optimal level to compete at my best.".

Marquez reiterated that his start to 2026 wasn’t easy due to the aftereffects of the injury he suffered in Indonesia in last year’s MotoGP championship, but the worst is over: "My condition during the tests in Malaysia was terrible - he confirms - but little by little I improved. I believe I’m now at the same level of fitness as last year. A shoulder injury, with everything I’ve been through, takes about six months, especially on a neurological level, for everything to get back in place. Now that six months have passed, it’s precisely in this period that I feel better; it’s in this period that I notice the biggest changes in the gym. I hope to see them on track as well".

Ducati has been winning at Jerez for five years, but Marquez believes that Marco Bezzecchi remains the favorite both for the Spanish Grand Prix weekend and for the run at the world title: "I’m not in a position to stop him, I think Martín is more in the position to stop Bezzecchi. On Sundays I haven’t been on the podium yet, so you can’t go from not getting on the podium to winning a race. We’ll try to have a good weekend. We’ve seen Bezzecchi lead every lap and the Aprilias are very fast, but let’s see if, little by little, we can take steps forward to get closer to them. That will be the goal."

The Ducati Lenovo Team rider has great experience and knows very well that it’s all still wide open, but he insists that Aprilia is currently the main contender for the final triumph: "For now we’re far behind. We’re 36 points down. Having 36 points over three races means they’ve built a big lead. There are still many races to go. The fact is that Bezzecchi has led every lap in every Sunday race and that’s the most worrying thing. We’ll try to stop the title favorites, who at the moment are Aprilia with Bezzecchi and Martín".

Friday’s practice will be the first moment when we’ll understand the pecking order on track, but Marquez says he doesn’t expect to win at Jerez: "I’m not asking to win, because we haven’t shown we have the level to win in these first races. First we need to build a run of podium finishes and fight to score as many points as possible over the weekend".

Monday will feature a very important test day and the Ducati team will work hard to improve the Desmosedici GP26. The nine-time world champion hopes to make concrete progress that can help for the rest of the MotoGP season: "As always, the rider expects the engineers to have an ace up their sleeve and the engineers expect the rider to have an ace up his sleeve. Let’s see if we can help each other".

Asked about Marquez’s claim that he and the Aprilia team are the favorites, Bezzecchi said: "It’s positive when Marc says it, but at Jerez it’s like a new beginning. The long break allowed everyone to recover and train, but above all it gave all the engineers time to understand and work".

Martin also had the chance to respond to the words of the nine-time world champion: "He’s the one defending the title, and I’m here watching from behind. Obviously I hope to close the gap to Marco. I think both Marco and Marc are the favorites. I’m focused on giving 100%. If I have the opportunity to win, I’ll give it my all".