“Tale of Two Marquez”
Welcome back to Dre’s Race Review and it’s time for MotoGP, to come home. Round 4 of the 2026 season sees the paddock head for the 40th straight year of the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. And we got quite possibly the most manic Sprint of all-time, and a familiar name flourishing in the chaos of it, before a much more peaceful Grand Prix won by a man who’s been rather quiet so far this season. Let’s talk about it.
Sprint Of Chaos
It happened again. 2024’s Sprint was famous for being one of the most chaotic of all-time, with half the field hitting the deck in 10 separate crashes before Jorge Martin finally won out. 2026 was about as crazy as the time I saw crack being exchanged at my last bookies’ Christmas Party, and in half the time.
Marc Marquez had taken pole position earlier in the day in a rain-affected session, and the racing gods decided to fuck with everyone afterwards.
Both factory Aprilia’s days were effectively over after one lap. Marco Bezzecchi accidentally but very accurately rode over Alex Marquez’s tear off, something he hadn’t noticed on the grid, and Jorge Martin‘s front brake got jammed after the second lap and had to call it a day. Marc Marquez got a huge holeshot due to new rainmeister Johann Zarco being a wonderful blocker for him. Once Alex Marquez got into second place, he took enough time out of Marc to close in and take the lead, but with eight to go, the white flag came out, which means we’re now in flag-to-flag conditions. By Lap 6, we’re in the 1:41’s. Six seconds off the pace and effectively tip-toe-ing.
Then the heavens open. The leading group hits the pits too late, Marc Marquez, running second, crashes at the final corner, but cleverly, he keeps the clutch in because he slides to the long lap penalty loop with only superficial damage. He then waits for the passing field to go by, before crossing the track, entering pit lane to change to his wet bike and continue.
Marquez comes out in a net third behind his teammate Pecco Bagnaia and KTM’s Brad Binder. Alex Marquez, the real leader who kept going, crashed at Turn 8 with Johann Zarco also running into the gravel. It’s WAY too wet for slicks. Brad Binder, who’s not had a podium finish let alone win since the opening round of 2024, crashed from what would have been the lead but is able to rejoin. From out of nowhere, the factory Ducati’s are 1-2, and Marquez is way faster in the wet, taking the lead with two laps to go to win the Sprint, a truly ridiculous race.
But was it legal? It’s inevitable with Marc Marquez – Quite possibly the most “switched on” rider in history, that when he puts out something spectacular, it’s immediately called into question. Mostly from people who believe that yellow is a reasonable fashion choice. But the response I gave to everyone out there who called what happened questionable, I ask a simple question:
What rule did he break?
There was no regulation in the book broken that justified punishment. Here’s the big ones:
- Was it dangerous/irresponsible riding? No, Marc waited for the track to be clear before rejoining, he put no-one else in danger
- Did he use a shortcut? No, the entry of Jerez’s timing loop is unique, you can go as far as the exit of the bend and still break the timing loop to enter the pits legally.
- Can you cut the grass? Yes, there’s nothing in the book to say you can’t, the only boundary you’re not allowed to cross on pit entry is the white line on the inside, and the exit line on pit exit on the outside.
- Did he ride backwards? No, the onboard camera proved that
Marc also had no marshal assistance so he didn’t ignore instructions, he didn’t need to refire his bike as the clutch was still active, and no other rules were broken.
You can be salty about this one all you want, but everything was above board. Marc was just clever in how he recovered from a mistake. There’s a reason he’s done this so many times. Because he’s smarter than you and he knows the rules. And for all those people who say that Marquez gets preferential treatment, did you forget Thailand’s sprint where a pass that would be considered marginal in the Spencer era, cost him a win?
There’s no loophole to close, or regulation that needs bringing in. This is a part of the sport we should be celebrating as a sport, a rider winning a race while crashing for the first time since 1995, according to the excellent Neil Morrison. It’s spectacular, it made for incredible drama and television, and it’s another excellent example of why flag-to-flag races are brilliant without pushing that line of what’s too dangerous for racing. Y’know, in a sport where riders are strapped to 2,000bhp per ton missiles.
Alex, Squared
The Grand Prix was a different story. Hot, and not a cloud in the sky after the previous day’s torrential downpour. Marc keeps the lead, but Alex is there early after going from 5th to 3rd on the holeshot. Alex leads down the hill towards the Pedrosa hairpin on Lap 2. Marc then has a huge crash at Turn 11.
It’s a weird one. There’s no obvious mistake. No clear indicator he was pushing. Marc makes the apex. The front just goes, and he’s into the gravel. Marc was fine, but it’s another frustrating weekend for the rider that everyone thought was going to turn the corner after the world going to war bought him an extra two weeks off. Marc’s shoulder feels better, but he’s only done one full race distance in seven months, ala Austin, since the shoulder injury, an injury that we all underestimated.
Then you’ve got Ducati. A reminder – They’ve always been tricky when it comes to development. Have been since 2021, with different engine homologations, aero setups and fairings across the last half decade. Fabio di Giannantonio claimed that Ducati had leaned too hard towards Marquez in development, despite no real evidence of that. Back in 2025, Marquez was in agreement to throw out Ducati’s original GP25, long before Pecco Bagnaia was caught up in developmental hell. Marquez hasn’t raced the 2026 package in its entirety because to do so would be too physically demanding on his injured shoulder, so this whole idea that Marquez is a developmental team wrecker doesn’t really hold weight for me.
You could make an argument that Ducati losing some support in Pramac could be deemed a detriment, but Yamaha was going to make them King’s Ransom offer whether Jorge Martin was there or not. Even if 2025 was a lock anyway via the GP25, do you think the factory Ducati team would want to be beaten by a customer two years running? Not to mention how hard they tried to change everything with Pecco Bagnaia to help him, failed, and then sacked him.
It’s a shame – Marc is almost too big a star in the context of MotoGP that it muddies the water of other people’s stories. Alex Marquez rode brilliantly to take Ducati’s first win of the season, and it felt toned down because the factory team’s now in the middle of a nine-race podium drought in GP’s going back to Bagnaia’s freaky Japanese win last year.
Alex Marquez after the race said he had no idea how he was as fast as he was. Comforting. Diggia scored another podium in third to maintain his status as Ducati’s most consistent rider. And the other lament of Ducati’s frustrations – They’ve not had an outside threat since Quartararo in 2022.
With the four races of the season so far so drastically different, do we even know truly who has the best bike right now? Marco Bezzecchi was only two seconds behind Alex at the line, barely a tenth a lap. He’s only scored six points in Sprints all season and yet hasn’t finished a GP lower than second and is actually quite poor value for his 11-point lead over his more consistent teammate in Jorge Martin, who is still just 11 weekends deep into his racing in black. This isn’t Ducati internal happy-fun-times anymore. Bez is kicking the door down, Aprilia is truly here and Ducati can’t afford to fuck around anymore, where their developmental problems weren’t exposed at the highest level.
The last open test is tomorrow as I type this. It’s probably the last chance for all the factories to develop and test gear for this era before everyone goes all-in for 2027 and the new regulations. It could play a huge role in how this year’s Championship plays out. Game on.
The Lightning Round
A huge and hearty congratulations to TNT Sports’ Sylvain Guintoli for completing the London Marathon in full racing leathers. For those who missed it, his son Luca passed away from cancer late last year, and this was a fundraising campaign for PASIC, cancer support for children. For those who know me well, this one hit close to home, and you know why. He’s raised over £130,000 for said charity, and he did it in 3:45.46, which for me is outrageous. I know times are hard for many right now, but if you can, please donate here. Ginters, you’re the greatest.
What on earth happened to KTM this weekend? Binder’s Sprint crash was heartbreaking, but Acosta losing his front aero and looking like his bike couldn’t turn was startling, especially given they gave up their famed top-end speed to try and improve the agility of their bike. Ouch.
Second time this season that Aprilia’s had all four of their bikes in the Top 6.
Loved Frankie Morbidelli’s dedication of his Sprint podium to those who are suffering. Nice of him to think of the Yamaha riders at this time. – Julian Ryder with the MotoGP quote of the year
Senna Agius, welcome to the elite in Moto2. A brilliant win for him to go back-to-back and now leap up to second in the standings. With Trackhouse looking to fill a seat, he could be a contender. Cue the weird comments from the sport and beyond about his Australian passport…
PS: David Alonso was the fastest man in that race in the back half and it wasn’t close. He dropped to 17th off the line from sixth on the grid after a dreadful start, but came back with authority. He needs a clean race somewhere, but the speed is there from the Colombian.
Moto3. Max Quiles. Different gravy. Simple as that.
Sprint Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Apocalpytic) – And I thought Austin’s sprint was great. This was the greatest Sprint race we’ve seen since F1 reinvigorated the format back in 2021. Dramatic, outrageous, and several times I screamed: “What the fuck is happening here?” This is a must watch on any level. Find it, NOW.
Grand Prix: 4.5/10 (Meh) – The Sunday race… not so much. It’s amazing that again in 2026 the trend continues that the Sprints have been excellent and the GP’s have largely been tame. Alex Marquez never looked like losing, Bez and Diggia ran their own separate races and while the midfield did have action, it was largely inconsequential. Weird. See you at Le Mans.