- Fracture of the fifth metatarsal in the right foot after a crash on the penultimate lap
- Marquez reveals a worn screw in his right shoulder as the cause of his 2026 inconsistency
- Out for the French GP and the Catalan GP, with surgery on both injuries planned in Madrid
The 2026 MotoGP season is turning into a nightmare for Marc Marquez. During the sprint race of the French Grand Prix at Le Mans on 9 May, the 33-year-old Ducati factory rider crashed heavily on the penultimate lap and suffered a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. But the fracture is only part of the problem. After the crash, Marquez revealed that a damaged screw in his right shoulder has been pressing against his radial nerve since the start of the season — the underlying cause of his unexplained inconsistency this year. A shoulder operation had already been planned for the period after the Catalan GP, before the Le Mans weekend.
How did Marc Marquez crash at Le Mans?
Marquez crashed on the penultimate lap of the 13-lap sprint at Turn 13 (Raccordement), a fast right-hander at the end of the lap. The Ducati rider initially lost the front on the way into the corner. He managed to save the slide by pushing his knee into the asphalt, but that correction destabilised the rear of the GP26 and the bike threw him over the bars in a violent highside. The Ducati flipped through the air and landed next to its rider on the track.
Marquez also hit his head on the asphalt, but he was quickly back on his feet. However, he could barely put any weight on his right foot and had to be supported on the way back to the paddock. At the medical centre an X-ray confirmed the fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
His team-mate Luca Marini, who had reviewed footage of the crash, suspected the contact with the white line on the left side as the cause. Marquez had caught his front tyre in the seam between the kerb and the white line. Brother Alex Marquez confirmed that view: “He lost the front, and then when he got the grip again, suddenly… he was so unlucky.”
What exactly are Marc Marquez’s injuries?
Ducati confirmed the diagnosis in an official statement: “Following the crash during the sprint at the French GP and after a medical check and X-ray, Marc was declared unfit with a fifth metatarsal fracture in his right foot. He will fly to Madrid this night for undergo surgery in the next days.”
In addition to the foot injury, Marquez announced after the race that he will simultaneously have surgery on his right shoulder. A damaged screw from previous operations has shifted and is pressing on the radial nerve.
What shoulder problem has Marc Marquez been hiding?
The revelation after the Le Mans sprint came as a surprise to many observers, even though Marquez’s problems had been visible since the start of the season. Speaking to the Spanish broadcaster DAZN, he explained that he had noticed something was wrong after the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. A medical examination revealed that the primary shoulder injury from his crash with Marco Bezzecchi at the Indonesian GP in October 2025 had been treated successfully, but a screw from earlier operations had shifted by one to two millimetres.
Marquez described the problem to DAZN: “It was a very strange feeling, because at home I felt fine, but when I came here, it prevented me from riding, because it was touching the radial nerve. That’s what causes me to make mistakes, be inconsistent, and have unexpected crashes.”
The nerve issue only appeared in the riding position on a MotoGP bike, not during motocross training at home. That very discrepancy between his performance in training and on the race track had caused confusion.
To Sky Italia he added: “At Jerez I realised something was wrong and the doctors saw that after the crash in Indonesia everything is fine, but the screw that had broken is in a slightly different position. It’s only one-two millimeters, but it touches the radial nerve.”
Why did Marquez only go public with the problem now?
Marquez explained his silence with a typical line: “I don’t like to cry in front of a microphone.” He had already known before the Le Mans weekend that he was not in a position to fight for the championship.
It is no new pattern that Marquez hides injuries from the public. In 2018 a recurring shoulder dislocation was only discovered during the title celebrations. In 2022 he kept the problems with his right arm secret until a fourth major surgery got the green light at the Italian Grand Prix. According to Marquez, the shoulder operation in Madrid is expected to be straightforward: the screw will be removed and the recovery time should be short.
Which races will Marquez miss and what does it mean for the championship?
Ducati confirmed that Marquez will miss both the Sunday race at the French GP and the Catalan GP in Barcelona the following week. The Spaniard flew to Madrid on Saturday evening, where both operations (foot and shoulder) will be combined.
In the championship standings Marquez is now 51 points behind leader Marco Bezzecchi on Aprilia after his withdrawal. The defending champion has already failed to finish two grand prix races in the first five rounds of the 2026 season and has not been on a Sunday podium yet, even though he has two sprint wins to his name. A comeback at the Mugello GP is the target, although Marquez described the planning as a step-by-step process.
The difficult Le Mans weekend started on Friday
Friday at Le Mans had already been a warning sign. Marquez missed direct entry into Q2 qualifying at the end of practice and had to take the Q1 detour. There he set a new all-time lap record, however, and secured his place in Q2. In the decisive qualifying session on Saturday he managed to start from second on the grid behind Pecco Bagnaia, who took pole position in an extremely tight battle, just 0.065 seconds ahead of four other riders.
In the sprint itself, Marquez had a poor start and dropped from second to fifth. Over the following laps he slipped further down to seventh, overtaken by KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Honda’s Joan Mir. The crash then came on the penultimate lap, regarded by many observers as the heaviest crash of the season so far.
What happened in the rest of the sprint?
While Marquez’s weekend ended in the gravel of Turn 13, Jorge Martin put on a remarkable display on the Aprilia. The 2024 world champion started from eighth, overtook nearly the entire field in the first corner and took the lead through the Dunlop chicane. Martin then ran a lonely sprint at the front and won by 1.107 seconds ahead of Bagnaia, who in turn finished 1.6 seconds clear of Bezzecchi.
It was Martin’s 18th sprint win in MotoGP history and his second of the current season. With it he reduced the gap to championship leader Bezzecchi to just six points. Acosta finished fourth on the KTM, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo fifth. Race Sunday at Le Mans goes ahead without Marquez, who is already on his way to Madrid.
How does the 2026 MotoGP season look overall?
Marquez missing at least two races shifts the championship balance further. Bezzecchi leads the standings, Martin moves closer with his sprint win. Ducati is making progress as a manufacturer, as Alex Marquez’s Spanish GP win and Bagnaia’s Le Mans pole show, but the team’s most important rider is now sidelined for an indefinite period. Marquez himself admitted he knew he was “not ready to fight for the championship”. The title defence is therefore practically over, even if the comeback at Mugello is successful.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What injury did Marc Marquez sustain in the MotoGP sprint at Le Mans?
Marc Marquez suffered a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during the MotoGP sprint at Le Mans on 9 May 2026. In addition, he revealed that a damaged screw in his right shoulder is pressing on the radial nerve and also requires surgery.
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Which 2026 MotoGP races will Marc Marquez miss because of his injury?
Marquez will miss the Sunday race at the French GP at Le Mans and the entire Catalan GP at Barcelona the following week. A comeback is targeted at the earliest for the Mugello Grand Prix, with the return being evaluated step by step.
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How did Marquez crash at Le Mans?
On the penultimate lap of the sprint at Turn 13 (Raccordement) Marquez first lost the front, briefly saved the slide and was then thrown over the bars in a highside. According to team-mate Luca Marini his front tyre caught the seam between the kerb and the white line.
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How many championship points is Marc Marquez behind in the 2026 MotoGP standings?
Following his withdrawal from the Le Mans sprint, Marquez is 51 points behind championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia). The gap will grow further with at least two more race weekends out.
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What is Marc Marquez’s shoulder problem?
A screw from previous operations has shifted by one to two millimetres after the crash with Marco Bezzecchi at the Indonesian GP in October 2025 and presses on the radial nerve in the riding position. According to Marquez this issue caused his inconsistency and unexpected crashes during the 2026 season.
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