HODGSON QUESTIONS WHERE MOTOGP’S NEXT GENERATION OF ‘ALIENS’ ARE

Marc Marquez’s commanding Malaysian Grand Prix victory has prompted former world champion Neil Hodgson to wonder whether MotoGP still has the kind of exceptional riders he calls “aliens”.

Marquez took the lead from his brother Alex at the start and won by 4.2 seconds, his biggest margin of the season. He was around two-tenths of a second per lap faster than runner-up Pedro Acosta, extending his championship advantage. The win was the third largest of 2026, behind Marco Bezzecchi’s victories in Thailand and Indonesia.

On the Gas it Out podcast, Hodgson looked back to an era featuring Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Marquez. “Where are the aliens?” he asked, saying that while most of today’s grid are “incredibly” talented, few strike him as “unbelievable, special aliens”.

Hodgson named Acosta, Fabio Quartararo and Jorge Martin among the riders who belong in that category, alongside Marquez. He praised Quartararo for scoring 79 points this season—one more than Yamaha’s other three riders combined—even as he adapts to the manufacturer’s new V4 bike. Acosta, he suggested, has the ability but lacks a KTM capable of regularly challenging at the front.

Martin, meanwhile, has been hampered by injury. The Aprilia rider withdrew from the Malaysian weekend with a broken wrist sustained in Australia. Hodgson called him “a special rider” and pointed to his difficult season: Martin missed all pre-season testing yet led the championship for much of the year. “Martin’s just been unlucky because he’s made of glass,” Hodgson said.

Marquez’s dominance is especially striking given that he is 33 and still not at full strength in his right arm. His Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia, a two-time champion, has managed only four Grand Prix podiums and sits 226 points behind him. Joan Mir, another former champion, has also endured a quiet campaign amid crashes, illness and Honda’s lack of competitiveness.

Hodgson’s comparison with the past comes with a caveat: Marquez won six titles in seven seasons from 2013 to 2019, even while several of the earlier greats were still racing. Lorenzo in 2015 and Martin in 2024 are the only riders to beat a fully fit Marquez, although Martin did so on a more advanced Ducati.