Marc Marquez’s MotoGP title bid deserved to be delayed by his best rival

In all likelihood, Marc Marquez will be crowned the 2026 MotoGP world champion next time out at the Portuguese Grand Prix. He holds a 60-point lead after winning the sprint in Qatar and finishing second in the grand prix last Sunday.

The permutations are even more favourable for him than they were coming to Qatar, where he needed to win on Sunday and hope Jorge Martin didn’t score to be crowned an eight-time world champion in the Lusail desert.

In Portugal, he can wrap up the title on Saturday in the sprint if he wins. In total, he just has to keep his championship lead above 37 points, depending on what the Aprilia riders do, to seal the title with a round to spare.

Portimao is one of the few circuits on the calendar Marquez hasn’t actually won at. And with his current physical condition, he’s going to face a tough weekend. Winning the title is likely, but it probably won’t happen for him until the grand prix.

There is little doubt that, if he does become world champion this season, it will rank as Marquez’s best given the circumstances. Never has a rider come from 102 points down in the standings to win the title, much less with the injury woes Marquez has faced this season. Truly, it will be hard to argue against his standing as the greatest of all time. But that’s something for another day.

Had Marquez won the championship last weekend in Qatar, it would have been well-deserved regardless. But it was only right that his coronation was delayed. For starters, it would have papered over what was a bit of a farcical weekend for MotoGP, with just 16 starters, Yamaha absent amid a standoff about racing in Qatar on safety grounds, and Pedro Acosta’s podium chances scuppered by a tyre pressure issue.

MotoGP may have gotten away with its Qatar Grand Prix not being impacted by hostilities in the region. But it was luck that discussions in the corridors of power inadvertently aligned with MotoGP’s agenda.

The fallout from Qatar will rumble on for some time, as Yamaha’s fate, and what impact its riders may face, is yet to be known.

But, beyond that, Jorge Martin’s determination to come from 11th on the grid in the sprint to (very briefly) lead and finish on the podium, and then secure seventh in the main race, to keep his title challenge alive deserves its moment in the sun.

Martin is Marquez’s worthiest championship opponent

Ifs and buts count for very little in motorsport. And Martin’s wrist injury was the product of the pressure battling Marc Marquez for a title places on a rider. But Martin’s challenge really didn’t deserve to crumble in that way.

Until the sprint at Phillip Island, it really was looking like Marquez and Martin would be facing off until the season finale in Valencia. And how it would go was up in the air. Marquez has been superb in 2026 since coming back from surgery. He’s won seven grands prix and 10 sprints: that’s more wins combined than Martin and Marco Bezzecchi have between them across Saturdays and Sundays.

But, as it did in 2024, consistency was the key weapon Martin had in his arsenal to try and repel the pressure Marquez was exerting on him. On the weekends where the Aprilia was clearly better than the Ducati, and Marquez’s physical situation limited him from making the difference, the points gap was kept incredibly narrow.

And no one has really posed that kind of threat to Marquez. Jorge Lorenzo pushed Marquez to the finale in 2013. But that was greatly helped by Honda’s gaffe at the Australian Grand Prix, when it sent him round for an extra lap before a mandated pit stop due to tyre safety concerns led to his disqualification. In 2014, Marquez was untouchable.

He was never a factor in the 2015 title race, while 2016 fell his way. Andrea Dovizioso gave him a good test in 2017, but that was never replicated, nor did the Ducati rider pressure Marquez in the same way Martin has done. The rest of Marquez’s titles before 2026 were romps.

That sustained challenge has arguably been the most impressive thing about Martin this year. While, yes, Marquez was coming from a position of weakness given his points deficit, Martin’s challenge didn’t unravel in the same way Bezzecchi - who should have been champion based on his early form - fell apart in the seven races from Hungary to Misano.

“Tuesday, I was really in doubt about coming to Qatar or not, and finally I finished the weekend with a podium and a top seven,” Martin reflected. “So, I’m really, really happy. It’s a pity that I qualified so back, because I think maybe qualifying further ahead maybe I could have fought for the top five or the podium. But this is what it is. We go to Portimao just trying to be more competitive.”

Martin added that he doesn’t care about the championship at this stage, and just wants to see out his time with Aprilia on a high. He’s very unlikely to go to Yamaha as a double world champion. But delaying Marquez’s coronation keeps the door ajar for the unexpected to perhaps just tip the scales back in his favour.

Bezzecchi’s Qatar win adds to his 2026 ‘what if?’

Marco Bezzecchi also deserves credit in Marquez’s 2026 title party being put on ice for his dominant display in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. Leading from pole, Bezzecchi rode one of his best races of the season to get to the chequered flag over three seconds clear of the field.

With Marquez second, the Ducati rider could not be crowned champion.

It came after a controversial collision between the pair in the sprint. Bezzecchi tried to go for a gap that opened as Marquez took his line through Turn 1, ‘V-ing’ the corner on his Ducati, while the Aprilia arched it with its superior turning.

Bezzecchi was completely behind Marquez when he entered the corner, with the pair making contact as they met in the middle. Bezzecchi lost out the most, crashing out, while Marquez stayed mounted and staved off a brief assault from Martin to win the sprint.

The stewards deemed it a racing incident. Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola disagreed even 24 hours after the fact, while criticising the stewards for not assessing the incident further, as he felt the consequences it had on the championship race required a changed approach. But penalties are assessed on actions - not consequences. And the stewards got that call spot on.

It was an unfortunate way for Bezzecchi’s sprint to end. But it’s not the first time he’s made errors at crucial junctures. The Aprilia was flying on the medium tyre, and it’s not unreasonable to think he would have had another chance at a cleaner overtake had he just waited. That incident was on the fourth lap of 10.

Bezzecchi atoned for this in the main race, and he still has a mathematical chance at winning the title, provided he wins all four remaining races, and Marquez doesn’t score. As he noted, he needs “a miracle” but “[there have been] no miracles for me” this season.

Bezzecchi now has six grand prix wins to Marquez’s seven. He may well end the season with more than the Ducati rider, having scored back-to-back victories in Portugal and Valencia last year.

Qatar, however, perfectly encapsulated Bezzecchi’s season: truly, he is a fantastic rider for that Aprilia, and should have had a proper crack at the title. But his own errors have cost him too much.