MARC MARQUEZ SAYS JORGE MARTIN IS NOT YET THE CLEAR MOTOGP TITLE FAVOURITE DESPITE 40-POINT GAP

Marc Marquez has pushed back against the idea that Jorge Martin is already the clear MotoGP world title favourite, even after the Aprilia rider extended his championship advantage to a 40-point gap following the British Grand Prix weekend.

Martin’s run at Silverstone underlined why the standings have swung in his direction. After taking pole the day before, he delivered a strong second-place finish in the race, but the weekend also highlighted how fine margins can be: a poor start allowed Raul Fernandez to take victory in Britain. Still, Martin’s ability to convert pole into a podium meant he grew his lead in the championship from 14 points to 31 over the course of the weekend, and the latest update leaves him with a 40-point cushion over Marquez.

Asked about whether Martin’s results—and Marquez’s own seventh-place finish—make the Spaniard the man to beat for the title, Marquez rejected the premise outright. Speaking to Diario AS and other outlets after the British GP, he said that no one should be treated as a guaranteed champion at this stage. “If you want to fight for a championship, you can’t wait for your home circuits. You have to perform at your best on every track, and right now, we’re not doing that.” He added: “It’s what I said: no matter how much you all say I’m the favourite, there’s no favourite in this World Championship.”

While Marquez played down the notion of a single dominant title contender, he was clear in his assessment of Martin’s form. He described the leader as the most consistent rider on the grid and the one he expects to challenge most often. “It’s clear that a different rider can beat you every Sunday, and right now, the most consistent rider is the leader, Jorge Martín, and he’s managing it best.” Marquez said his approach will be to try to make things difficult for Martin, but he also acknowledged the reality of the season so far: “We’ll try to make things difficult, but at the moment, there are three riders ahead of me who have been better than me in the 12 races so far.”

On the size of the points gap, Marquez also refused to treat 40 as an insurmountable deficit. He admitted that catching Martin depends on where he can score best and how other riders perform, but he does not believe the gap automatically decides the championship. “Yes, but it depends on how the other riders perform at the circuits where I’ve had better results. We’ll see.” He pointed to Silverstone as a track he had marked negatively beforehand, saying, “It’s true that this was one of the circuits I had circled in red (negatively).”

Martin, for his part, played down the pressure that comes with leading the standings. Speaking after Silverstone, he said: “I don't really care if I'm first or second or whatever. I just try to improve, constantly, to have the chance to fight for a title at the end. For me, it's good enough.” He explained that chasing the lead obsessively had taken too much energy in the past, adding: “Two years ago, I was really obsessed with always trying to be in front, trying to be on the lead. But this honestly takes a lot of energy. So now I'm just focusing to be a better Jorge.”

Martin also insisted he and the team are on the right track, saying, “I have full confidence in myself, full confidence in the team. And sometimes if we are lost or we lose the speed, it's because something is not right. It's not that we are not good.” He described Silverstone as a rare positive in terms of execution, noting, “This weekend was perfect. I was able to not change the setup for the whole weekend. So this is amazing. But there will be races where we will struggle. The important thing is to improve from the first part of the season and to be more constant.”

The British GP itself was shaped by the start. Martin said the race was “really compromised by the start,” explaining that Fernandez got away better and that, into Turn 1, he “didn't brake enough” for his rear device to return. He added: “When we went into the first corner, I just wanted to keep the first position and I didn't brake enough. So my rear device didn't come back. Then I went wide and Marco overtook me. So I lost quite a lot of time.” He later clarified that he tried to resist Fernandez into Turn 1 and that his ride-height device failed to release, sending him wide; Ogura suffered the same problem just behind.

Martin reclaimed second from Bezzecchi just before half-distance, but Fernandez had already built a large advantage. “I tried to recover as fast as possible, but my strategy was compromised. When I got into second, already Raul had like five seconds. So I just tried to put my pace,” he said. He also commented on the race dynamics, saying he saw Fernandez closer at times and thought “maybe his tyre was going to drop,” but that the Spaniard “managed amazingly.”

Looking ahead, Marquez stressed that the next stretch of races will demand more aggressive performances from him if he is to close the gap. “But now there are three or four circuits coming up that, if we want to achieve anything, we have to attack.” He also addressed the possibility of Japan as part of the comeback equation, confirming, “Should I include Japan? Yes, of course.”

Marquez’s comments came after he shortened his vacation to prepare for the season’s resumption, aiming to return ready to fight for the championship rather than simply react to events. For him, the Silverstone outcome was frustrating, even if he did not expect a standout weekend. Still, he framed the situation as motivation to keep pushing toward an all-time great comeback—retaining his status as the sport’s top rider and finishing the 2026 campaign as world champion.