JAKARTA - Nine-time world champion Marc Marquez predicts that the competition for the title in the 2026 MotoGP competition season will be much more intense.
Marquez faces huge pressure to defend his world championship title. However, the 32-year-old realizes that his fight will not be easy due to the increasing performance of his competitors.
"Aprilia is growing rapidly. So is KTM with Acosta. Honda is getting closer, they are making big steps. Yamaha is a little difficult, but they are still Yamaha," said Marquez as quoted by Crash.
Marquez was very dominant in his debut season last year with the Ducati Factory team. He managed to lock in the ninth world championship title when the competition still had five series left.
The racer nicknamed Baby Alien then suffered a shoulder injury due to an incident in the 2025 Mandalika MotoGP, forcing him to miss the last four races. However, he was still able to close the season at the top of the riders' final standings.
Marquez said that a different situation might happen in this year's race. In addition to competitors from other manufacturers, he is also likely to fight his brother Alex Marquez who will now race a Ducati Factory specification bike with Gresini.
"From Alex, you can expect everything. He will certainly be one of the title hunters after being runner-up last year," said Marquez.
In addition to the names above, Marquez could also face resistance from his teammate Francesco Bagnaia. The owner of two world championship titles performed below last season's performance, but could make a comeback this year.
Marquez is currently recovering from his injury and has been riding a motorcycle. He is scheduled to ride his Desmosedici again at the official test at the Sepang Circuit which will take place on 3-5 February 2026.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
