Marc Marquez’s first words as new 2026 MotoGP championship leader
Marc Marquez is the new MotoGP championship leader
Marc Marquez says it “feels unreal” to be leading the 2026 MotoGP world championship standings for the first time, following victory at the San Marino Grand Prix.
Injury woes in the early stages of the season hindered his championship defence, before a foot fracture at the French Grand Prix led to him missing a weekend to have surgery.
As well as an operation on his foot, Marc Marquez also had a procedure on his right shoulder to correct a nerve issue that had plagued him since his crash at the Indonesian Grand Prix last October.
Returning at May’s Italian Grand Prix, the Ducati rider ended that weekend 102 points away from the championship lead and had all but written himself out of contention.
But since then, Marquez has taken wins in Hungary, Czechia, Germany, Aragon and at Misano to completely erase that 102-point deficit.
Capitalising on a crash for Marco Bezzecchi while leading and a difficult race for Jorge Martin, who finished fifth, Marquez claimed victory of the year at the San Marino Grand Prix to head the standings for the first time.
“Unreal. It feels unreal,” Marquez said in parc ferme after his fifth grand prix win of the season.
“But never give up. I will push until the end. This is not done, but this is not over.
“So, we are there in the championship, fighting against very good riders, especially Martin and Bez.
“But, as we saw, everything is on the limit, and a small mistake can cost a lot of points.
“And today, it’s true that in the race, after the Bezzecchi mistake, I was a bit too confident and then Martin attacked me.
“But then I regained again the confidence, I kept the pace and happy because that 37 points here at Misano means a lot.”
Marquez is now level on 274 points with Martin, but leads the standings due to winning five grands prix to Martin’s one.
Bezzecchi’s crash at Misano means he is now 33 points down on Marquez in the standings.
Aprilia’s difficult home race means Ducati now leads the constructors’ standings by two points over its Italian rival.
