Marc Marquez: 'I don't have the pace to fight for MotoGP title'

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Marc Marquez has made his strongest statement yet about his 2026 championship prospects, declaring after his Spanish Grand Prix crash that he is currently too slow to defend his MotoGP crown.

The lead factory Ducati rider was quick to underline that he was referring to his personal performance, not that of the Italian manufacturer. His brother Alex won the race on the independent Gresini Ducati GP26, breaking Aprilia's MotoGP winning streak after five races.

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"I’m the first to try and look at things optimistically, but at the same time, realistically," he said. "At the moment, we’re not riding at our best, nor do we have the pace - I mean, my pace - to fight for the world championship."

While Marc has won two MotoGP sprints this season, including the Jerez edition on Saturday, he has been unable to win a grand prix since the San Marino GP in September last year. While that poor run has partly been due to injury, he declared himself fully fit ahead of this weekend - and he is aware that crashing out on Sundays is unacceptable under the circumstances.

"If you’re not on the podium on Sundays, it’s very difficult. But we’ll try to improve bit by bit and rediscover that feeling," he added.

Marco Bezzecchi showed exactly the value of accumulating podiums, bagging a solid second to stretch his points advantage despite failing to win for the first time this year. Meanwhile, Marc comes away from Andalucia fifth in the points standings, 44 points behind the Italian.