GUIDOTTI SEES SIGNS MARQUEZ IS STILL STRUGGLING

Trackhouse team manager Francesco Guidotti believes Marc Marquez’s more measured approach in practice may reflect lingering difficulties, despite the Ducati rider’s recovery from shoulder surgery.

Marquez is fighting Aprilia’s Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi for the 2026 MotoGP title, with a chance to equal Giacomo Agostini’s record of eight premier-class championships. But his campaign has again been affected by injury. Bezzecchi’s crash with Marquez at the 2025 Indonesian Grand Prix left the Spaniard with a fractured coracoid and damaged shoulder ligaments. The impact also bent screws from an earlier operation, which doctors later found were pressing on a nerve. Marquez underwent further surgery in May, initially keeping it from Ducati, and disclosed it after fracturing his foot in the Le Mans Sprint.

Although he has looked much stronger since the operation, Guidotti says Marquez’s practice routine has changed. At Mandalika on Friday, the Ducati rider finished fifth, 0.701 seconds behind Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez, who set a lap record of 1:28.725. Marquez did not attempt to match Fernandez’s pace, instead securing a place in Q2. Fernandez went on to claim his first MotoGP pole on Saturday, while Marquez qualified fourth.

“I don’t know how hard Marquez really pushed, because lately on Fridays he pushes just enough to go straight into Q2,” Guidotti told GPOne. “He’s not interested in setting a fast lap at all costs.”

The Trackhouse boss added that a rider who feels comfortable would generally find lap time more readily. “When a rider feels comfortable, the lap times come more easily, and he doesn’t lose six or seven-tenths like he did today, so there are probably some difficulties,” he said.

Guidotti returned to the MotoGP paddock in June, taking over as Trackhouse team manager from Davide Brivio. Brivio is due to join Honda as a strategic adviser in 2027, as the manufacturer continues its rebuild.

Marquez has also described a change in his own mindset since arriving at Mandalika as the newly crowned 2025 champion. In recent rounds, his practice priority has appeared to be reaching Q2 and building race pace rather than chasing the fastest single lap. The approach may be deliberate, but Guidotti’s assessment is that Marquez is not yet entirely free of the effects of his injury-hit season.