ALEX MARQUEZ SAYS MARC HAS THE MAGIC TO TURN THE 2026 TITLE FIGHT AROUND

Alex Marquez believes his brother Marc has the rare ability to recover from setbacks that has kept him in the 2026 MotoGP title fight, despite not being fully fit. He also wonders how much closer he might have been to the championship had injury not interrupted his own season.

Marc has already overturned a 102-point deficit to Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, the largest comeback from behind in MotoGP history. After seven rounds, Bezzecchi led by that margin; by round 14, Marc had moved to the top of the standings. Alex said his brother was given an opportunity when rivals faltered, but stressed that Marc still had to make the most of it.

“He’s carrying a niggle, he isn’t at 100%, and he isn’t quite the rider he was in 2019,” Alex told AS. “But the guy knows how to adapt. Marc is a chameleon. He turns everything around and knows how to bounce back very well when he has a bad spell.”

Alex pointed to Marc’s response after a difficult spell at Le Mans and said his brother’s ability to produce a decisive run of results was exceptional. “He’s got that magic that suddenly kicks in over the course of three races,” he said. Alex recalled that his own title challenge faded rapidly last year: he went from 20 points behind to 100 adrift in three races. “You know what? Well, he’s done exactly the same this year.”

The younger Marquez said he could not know whether he would have been a genuine contender alongside Marc, Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, but believes he would have been in the mix. His campaign was disrupted by a crash with KTM’s Pedro Acosta in Barcelona. Acosta’s bike suffered an engine failure, and Alex was unable to avoid the collision, sustaining a fractured neck and broken collarbone. He missed the next two rounds, in Italy and Hungary.

Alex admitted he was “really annoyed” not to have made better use of his factory-spec Ducati GP26 and the support he received after finishing second in the 2025 standings. “I don’t know whether it’d be a close fight or a 40-point lead, but I reckon I’d be in the running,” he said, while acknowledging that injuries and other events can change a championship.

He cited Dani Pedrosa as an example of a rider whose title hopes were affected by injury, recalling Pedrosa’s 2012 campaign and a crash in Japan. “Ask Dani Pedrosa how many championships he has lost due to injuries? Loads,” Alex said. “It’s part of the game.”

The brothers made history in 2025 by becoming the first siblings to finish first and second in the premier-class standings. Marc could now add another milestone if he wins the 2026 title. Alex’s comments came as Bezzecchi’s season unravelled after his victory at Mugello: Martin took him out at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Bezzecchi crashed in the Brno Sprint and was barred from the Czech GP after hitting a marshal, then crashed at Assen and missed the German race after a qualifying crash.