Le Mans MotoGP begins ‘three really important tests’ for Alex Marquez

Gresini MotoGP rider Alex Marquez says this weekend’s French Grand Prix begins “three really important weekends” to see if his Jerez race-winning form is genuine.

The 2025 championship runner-up broke Ducati’s victory drought for the 2026 season last time out at the Spanish Grand Prix, after he beat Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi.

It marked a considerable turnaround for Alex Marquez, who’d struggled to get involved in the podium battle at the opening three rounds.

Branding it an “important” victory for himself and Ducati, he now views this weekend’s French Grand Prix, as well as the upcoming Catalan and Italian rounds, as vital in proving whether or not his Jerez form was genuine.

“That weekend was amazing for us,” he said on Thursday at Le Mans.

“I was able to have the speed again, but especially the feeling that I had in 2025.

“I was able to ride in a really good way.

“So, just here will be a really good test, also Montmelo and Mugello, we will have three really important weekends for us to test if that feeling we had in Jerez and that performance was just for one day or we can keep it for all the season.

“So, we will try our best. I think we did one step in the Jerez test, and I think that we are stronger.

“But, we need to confirm that in other tracks different to Jerez.

“I hope to keep this momentum as long as we can and react a little bit.

“It’s true that the Jerez test is a boost for me, for all the team, for Ducati also.

“So, it was important after the really tough beginning of the season. So, we are there, looks like we are back, but still many things to confirm.”

Explaining what was missing on the GP26 for him in terms of feeling prior to the Spanish Grand Prix, Alex Marquez added:  “I was missing a little bit… I was struggling a lot to stop the bike in the correct way, in the correct points.

“It’s true that also my riding style didn’t help in that point.

“And also with the GP24 I was missing or losing a little bit of time in that point.

“But this year in that point I was feeling even worse, the difference was bigger.

“Looks like from Jerez we were able to have a similar feeling as last year, and I was able to make again the difference in the other points that I’m fast, like traction, or apex, or something like that.

“At the moment, I’m feeling really at a similar point on the ’24 bike.”