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Alex Marquez questions if his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix marks a true breakthrough in his MotoGP career. After a challenging start to the 2026 season, he aims to understand his performance on the factory-spec bike.
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Alex Marquez says he still needs to understand if he has made a genuine breakthrough after bouncing back from a tough start to the 2026 MotoGP season to win the Spanish Grand Prix.
Having finished runner-up in the standings last year and received a factory-spec bike for 2026, the expectations were high for the younger Marquez this season.
But the Gresini rider struggled for performance at the beginning amid a wider dip within the Ducati fold, scoring a best Sunday result of seventh across the opening three flyaway races.
He was so unsure about his prospects that even a return to Jerez, the track where he scored his maiden MotoGP win last year, did little to lift his expectations.
But the Spaniard went on to dominate his home grand prix on Sunday, grabbing the lead on the second lap en route to a monumental two-second victory.
The result ended Marco Bezzecchiâs five-race winning streak in MotoGP, putting Ducati back at the front for the first time since last Octoberâs Malaysian GP. He would have likely claimed a double win at Jerez had there not been a sudden rain shower when he was leading the sprint.
Marquezâs comeback win was down to a combination of factors, including his natural affinity with Jerez. But he also benefited from an upgraded Ducati package and a change in mentality that allowed him to ride around the bikeâs problems.
However, he remains adamant its too early to draw firm conclusions about his form. The post-race test at Jerez, where he and other Ducati riders tested a new aero package, among other things, offered only some answers about the sudden upturn in form.
âWe suffered a lot in the first three rounds this year, and then we are here and suddenly we are really, really fast and we are really flowing,â he said.
âLe Mans, Montmelo and Mugello will be important to understand if this step that we did here is real or it's just one weekend.
âI think we were [performing] in a really good way [at Jerez]. I think that in many ways we still need to improve, and it's what we focused on in this test, trying different aero packets and trying different things on the bike.
Alex Marquez won the Spanish Grand Prix, marking a significant achievement after a tough start to the 2026 MotoGP season.
Before the Spanish Grand Prix, Alex Marquez struggled with a best result of seventh place in the first three races of the season.
Expectations are high for Alex Marquez in the 2026 MotoGP season due to his previous runner-up finish and the upgrade to a factory-spec bike.
Alex Marquez is still assessing whether his win at the Spanish Grand Prix indicates a genuine breakthrough in his performance.
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âSome are positive, some are negative. It's difficult to make conclusions on the aerodynamic side just at one track, because Jerez is a really good track to test, but maybe we need a little bit more fast corners.
âBut some things are positive, and now we'll have a lot of work at home on Ducati and also on Gresini to analyse the things.â
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Despite having ruled out a victory in the build-up to the Spanish GP, Marquez insisted he was always certain that he would be able to return to the front.
âWe tried it and I said already in Austin that, âOK, we are suffering but our time will come.â
âI think we keep working in a really good way, just trying to not panic and just trying to analyse the things. We started with last year's bike set-up and just tried to do other things, and then suddenly we were really, really fast again.
âSo we work in a really good way and we tried a few things that were working.â
There has been a stark contrast between the performance of Ducatiâs factory team and its satellite squads this year. While both Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia have largely struggled for results, VR46 rider Fabio di Giannantonio led the marqueâs charge in the opening races before Alex Marquez took over the baton in Jerez.
With MotoGP visiting three different tracks in May, Alex believes the coming races will offer a better gauge of the pecking order.
âI don't know the work that they are doing in the official team,â he said. âI think they are working super well and they know everything that we did.
âFor us also, it will be a really good test in the next two or three rounds to see if we can keep up this performance. Le Mans is a really different track.â
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