
Papers: Maresca in Man City talks as Pep emerges as candidate for Italy job
Enzo Maresca is in talks with Manchester City as Pep Guardiola emerges as a candidate for the Italy national team job.
Jorge Lorenzo is confused about Marc Marquez's performance gap to his brother Alex at the Spanish Grand Prix, despite both riding identical bikes. Ducati showed strong performance in practice, with Alex Marquez nearly breaking a lap record.
Photo by Gold & Goose Photography/Getty Images
Jorge Lorenzo has admitted he’s struggling to understand why Marc Marquez is so far behind his brother Alex at the Spanish Grand Prix, especially with both riders on identical machinery.
The key sessions of the weekend are still ahead, but Ducati have plenty to be positive about after Friday’s practice runs. Fabio Di Giannantonio led a 1-2-3 for Ducati in FP1 before Alex Marquez came close to breaking Fabio Quartararo’s lap record later in the day.
No one came close to matching him in the afternoon, either, with Alex finishing more than three-tenths clear of the field.
His older brother Marc ended up fourth fastest but was still half a second slower by the end of the session.
Photo by Gold & Goose Photography/Getty Images
Speaking during DAZN’s Friday coverage of the Spanish Grand Prix, Lorenzo was taken aback by Alex’s speed in pre-qualifying. He also raised questions about Marc’s physical condition, suggesting it could be a factor in the noticeable gap between the two brothers.
The three-time premier class champion told Motosan: “I don’t think he’s at his physical peak. It’s hard to understand that he’s half a second behind his brother. He’s struggling to consistently run in the low 37s. He’s a tad behind.”
Lorenzo went on to predict that race pace for both Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s main event would likely hover around high 1:36s or low 1:37s, based on what he saw in practice.
That means Marc will need to find more consistency if he wants to stay with the leaders across both races this weekend.
Jorge Lorenzo expressed confusion over Marc Marquez's performance gap to Alex Marquez, especially since both riders are on identical machinery.
Ducati had a strong showing in practice, with Fabio Di Giannantonio leading a 1-2-3 finish in FP1 and Alex Marquez finishing significantly ahead of the field.
Alex Marquez came close to breaking Fabio Quartararo's lap record during the practice sessions at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Enzo Maresca is in talks with Manchester City as Pep Guardiola emerges as a candidate for the Italy national team job.
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Much of the talk during the three-week gap between the Austin and Jerez rounds of the 2026 MotoGP season has centred on Marc Marquez’s fitness.
Several people in Austin noticed that Marquez still seemed to be feeling the effects of his broken collarbone from late 2025, and another crash in Texas only added to those concerns.
While speaking to reporters at Jerez, Ducati manager Davide Tardozzi spoke about how useful the break has been for Marquez, though he stopped short of confirming if his rider is fully fit.
He said via Motosan, “Without a doubt, these three weeks off have been useful for Marc. Now we’ll hear from him, after this round of tests, about his physical condition.”
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