- Marquez could celebrate his 100th Grand Prix victory in Buriram
- Only three wins separate him from Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP record
- A new two-year Ducati contract is close to being announced
When the 2026 MotoGP season kicks off this weekend in Buriram, all eyes will almost inevitably be on Marc Marquez. The 33-year-old Spaniard claimed his seventh premier class title in 2025 after years of injuries and setbacks, emphatically proving that he is still a force to be reckoned with. Now he faces a season in which several historic records are within striking distance.
Buriram as the Perfect Opener
The Chang International Circuit in Buriram holds special significance for Marquez. It was there that he celebrated his first victory as part of the Ducati factory team in 2025, launching his title-winning season in perfect fashion. “At this track I won my first GP with the Ducati Lenovo Team, one of those memories that give you an extra boost. The first race of the season is always something special, even after so many years,” said the nine-time World Champion.
The track suits Ducati in general. Since MotoGP first visited Thailand in 2018, Ducati riders have won the Thailand GP exclusively over the last three years: Jorge Martin in 2023, Pecco Bagnaia in 2024, and Marquez in 2025. At the most recent Buriram test, Marquez and Bagnaia finished 3rd and 4th in the combined timesheets, behind the Aprilia duo of Marco Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura.
Ducati’s Top-Speed Advantage Is Shrinking
However, overtaking on the straights in Buriram could be more difficult in 2026 than in previous years. The first sector of the track is particularly power-dependent, and the competition has caught up. Alex Marquez, who will race with full factory Ducati machinery at Gresini Racing for the first time in 2026, warned after testing about the rivals’ straight-line speeds. “You need more than a 2 km/h advantage to overtake cleanly. That’s not easy, and here I was behind some Aprilias and also some Hondas. They’re quite similar in speed. It won’t be easy to overtake on this track,” he explained.
The test data confirms this: Bagnaia was clocked at 342 km/h, with a new ride-height device on the Desmosedici expected to help on the straights. Aprilia reached close to 340 km/h on the final day of testing, and the fastest Honda hit 338 km/h. Ducati’s advantage has clearly shrunk.
Injuries, Not Age, as the Biggest Hurdle
Marquez’s preparation for the new season was anything but smooth. At the 2025 Indonesian GP in October, he suffered a complicated shoulder fracture in a first-lap collision with Marco Bezzecchi. Initially, surgery didn’t appear to be necessary, but when healing hadn’t begun within the first week, he had to go under the knife after all. He missed the remainder of the 2025 season and didn’t get back on a motorcycle until January 2026.
At the Buriram test, Marquez then had to shake off three crashes. “Apart from the crashes and my physical condition, overall we had a positive test at this track,” he summed up. He makes no secret of the fact that the injuries are increasingly taking their toll. “It doesn’t get harder with age, it gets harder with the injuries. Mentally I still feel young. But with the injuries, one after another, my body gets slower and slower, and it takes longer and longer to recover,” the champion admitted. The winter had been extremely long, and rehabilitation is still ongoing. The two-week break after the Thailand GP should bring further progress.
Stefan Bradl, who spent years alongside Marquez at Honda as a test and replacement rider, sees the crashes not as a warning sign but as the exact opposite. “That’s simply typical Marc Marquez. He seeks the limit. Once he’s found it, once he’s felt out the edge, then he also knows how to assess it,” Bradl explained as a ServusTV expert on the show “Sport und Talk aus dem Hangar 7.” Crashes from number 93 are actually a positive sign: “When you see him crash, when you see him take the risk and accept those small crashes, then the man is dangerous again.”
The Hunt for Rossi’s Records
Beyond defending his title, the 2026 season is also about historic records for Marquez — almost all of which are linked to one name: Valentino Rossi. Bradl knows his former teammate well enough to understand that this is exactly what drives him. “I think all records are possible. I know him well enough to know that it excites him. I don’t want to claim that records are at the very top of his priority list, but they’re still interesting to him,” said the German. And then Bradl got more direct: “Of course he wants to be the sole king in MotoGP and surpass Valentino Rossi. That’s the incentive.”
As early as the season opener in Buriram, Marquez could reach a milestone: his 100th Grand Prix victory across all classes. In the MotoGP class alone, it would be his 74th win. He currently stands at 99 total victories, placing him 3rd on the all-time list behind Giacomo Agostini with 122 and Rossi with 115 wins.
The pure MotoGP wins make for a particularly fascinating comparison. Rossi has 76 victories in the MotoGP era (excluding 500cc), while Marquez has 73. Just three more wins are needed to overtake Rossi in this category as well. In the combined 500cc and MotoGP standings, Rossi leads with 89 wins ahead of Marquez with 73 and Agostini with 68.
The World Championship titles tell a similarly tight story. Marquez stands at nine World Championships across all classes, level with Rossi, Mike Hailwood, and Carlo Ubbiali. In the premier class, he has seven titles — exactly the same as Rossi. Only Agostini, with eight premier class titles, sits above them. An eighth MotoGP title in 2026 would see Marquez draw level with Agostini’s record.
Marquez also already holds the record for most wins in a single season: 13 victories in 2014, followed by his own 12 wins in 2019 and Mick Doohan’s 12 wins in 1997.
Brother Alex as Additional Motivation
Bradl sees another source of motivation in the family dynamic. Alex Marquez, the younger brother, rode to the best season of his career as 2025 vice world champion. “In my opinion, it’s extremely valuable for him that his brother is so strong. That they share podiums together and are so successful as a pair of brothers. That had an extremely positive influence on Marc,” Bradl believes.
Alex himself heads into 2026 with newfound confidence. For the first time, he has full factory Ducati machinery at his disposal at Gresini Racing. For him, this opens up entirely new possibilities. “It’s not just about the responsibility, it’s about the opportunities. Last year there were zero chances. This year you have many opportunities to keep improving the package,” he said. Compared to previous years, testing makes much more sense now — there are actually things to try out, instead of just doing laps.
Contract and Team Line-Up 2026
The new contract between Marquez and Ducati was still unsigned during the Buriram test. The World Champion stated that he wanted to further evaluate his shoulder recovery before committing long-term. Ducati is pushing for a two-year deal, and the announcement is expected in the coming days before the season starts. Pedro Acosta is set to join him in the factory team, while Bagnaia is reportedly on the verge of a move to Aprilia.
Bradl’s Clear Prediction
For Stefan Bradl, the outcome of the season is already decided. “I’m betting that Marc Marquez will defend his title. He is simply the most intelligent and the best when it comes to race management,” is his verdict. Whether it actually plays out that way will become apparent starting this weekend. The conditions for a historic season are certainly in place.
What This Means for Me as a MotoGP Fan
What is brewing around Marc Marquez in 2026 has the potential to be the most memorable season in years. This isn’t just about another title or another victory. Someone may be rewriting the history books here — specifically the chapters that have carried the name Valentino Rossi for years. Anyone who has followed the rivalry between these two over the years knows how emotionally charged this topic is. The fact that Marquez is taking all of this on after such a brutal injury history, with a body that, in his own words, is getting slower and slower, only makes it more impressive. Add to that the story of brother Alex, who finally has the machinery to compete at the very front. Two brothers fighting together for podiums and victories — that has never happened in this form in MotoGP. And then there’s the question of how long the Ducati factory team will even exist in this constellation, if Bagnaia really does move to Aprilia and Acosta comes in as the new teammate. There are rarely seasons where so many storylines converge before the first race has even taken place. Buriram this weekend will show which direction it all takes.
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