Marc Marquez: Ducati GP24? Alex was seven seconds faster at Jerez MotoGP

Marc Marquez has pointed to Alex Marquez’s Jerez victory pace as proof that MotoGP development must keep moving forward, rather than chasing a past “feeling”.

Although Alex Marquez has not yet found the same level of comfort with the GP26 as with last year’s GP24, the Gresini rider won the Spanish MotoGP with a race time 7.5s quicker than his own victory the year before.

Most Ducati riders are still seeking better front-end feeling, an area where the GP24 was especially strong.

A logical move might therefore be to ‘unwind’ developments back to the GP24 spec, something reigning champion Marquez said remains possible, but would be a mistake.

“I only did two runs on the 24 in Catalunya Test [that year], then I just jumped directly to the 25,” Marquez said at Monday’s Jerez test.

“But in the end, what I understand from the engineers, is we can ride with a 24 bike. It's just a mix of parts… The base is the same bike. Then if you want to come back, you can come back.”

Marquez stressed that lap time gains across the field mean development cannot stand still.

“This year, Alex here in Jerez was seven seconds faster with the 26 than the 24,” he said.

“So in competition, if you [go] back…  You always [remember] the feeling of that year that you won with the bike and it was amazing.

“But then the competitors are gaining tenths and tenths and tenths, and we need to keep going forward.”

While Marc and team-mate Pecco Bagnaia failed to finish Sunday’s Grand Prix, Alex wasn’t the only Desmosedici GP26 rider to make a significant step over the year before.

VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio, finished in third place with a race time 9.0s quicker than his fifth place on the GP25 last year.

But the rider with the biggest progress was Aprilia’s title leader Marco Bezzecchi, who suffered his first grand prix defeat of the year, but was still a massive 30-seconds faster than in 2025.

That included running through the gravel trap last year. But removing that mistake from last year’s race time, Bezzecchi was still around 12 seconds faster in 2026.

The other comparable Aprilias also made big gains with Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez 22-seconds quicker and team-mate Ai Ogura finding 8.5s.

The same Aprilia trio then filled the top three places at Monday’s test, when Jorge Martin - fourth in the grand prix - also reported big progress.

Marc Marquez said that Aprilia's progress was clear even before Jerez.

“When you start the year in three different racetracks, three different layouts, with three different tyre casings, and the winner was Aprilia, it means that the bike is working well,” Marquez said.

“Not only with Bezzecchi, but also with Ogura, Fernandez, Martin.

“For that reason, Ducati is working, as we saw today, and as a team we are trying to improve.

“But last Sunday, the winner [Alex Marquez] was riding a Ducati,” he highlighted.

Marc Marquez was the fastest Ducati at the test, in fourth.