Michele Pirro sidelined as Alex Marquez replacement named for Hungary MotoGP

This weekend’s Hungarian MotoGP (5–7 June) will see Alex Marquez sidelined again through injury and a new rider replacing him.

Marquez remains unable to race in MotoGP after his huge crash at the Catalan Grand Prix over two weeks ago which left him with multiple injuries including a fractured C7 vertebra.

The Spanish rider was replaced at Gresini Racing by Ducati MotoGP test rider Michele Pirro at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, but it will be a new rider aboard the Desmosedici GP26 this weekend at Balaton Park.

Gresini has called on Ducati WorldSBK rider Iker Lecuona to replace Marquez this weekend, the Spanish rider getting his first MotoGP chance since he replaced Alex Rins at LCR Honda in 2023.

Lecuona’s first experience of the Balaton Park circuit in 2025 was not among his career highlights, the Spaniard being injured in the turn two crash caused by Andrea Iannone with significant wrist and forearm fractures. He missed most of the second half of the season as a result of those injuries, but this year, aboard the Aruba.it Racing Ducati, Lecuona was second to Nicolo Bulega in all three races.

Bulega himself would appear a more obvious choice for a MotoGP replacement ride. He replaced Marc Marquez at the factory Ducati team at the end of last season and was reasonably competitive, and has beaten Lecuona in every race they’ve had as teammates in WorldSBK this year – Bulega, indeed, has won all of the 18 races so far in 2022.

The Italian did indeed have a chance to replace Marquez this weekend, but he turned the opportunity down, he revealed last weekend at Aragon.

“I had the opportunity to ride as a replacement for Alex Marquez in MotoGP at Balaton, but I decided to stay focused on WorldSBK,” he told WorldSBK.com.

“It’s not the moment to take any risk at the moment.”

Bulega’s WorldSBK championship lead currently sits at 107 points over Lecuona.