Alex Marquez Struggles in MotoGP 2026: Shoulder Injury and GP26 to Blame
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- Alex Marquez hanya mengoleksi 172 poin dan tertahan di peringkat delapan klasemen sementara, terpaut jauh dari sang kakak, Marc Marquez.
- Cedera tulang selangka yang dialami di Barcelona pada Mei lalu masih membatasi pergerakan bahu kanannya, membuat performa inkonsisten.
- Gresini yakin kecepatan Alex belum hilang dan bertekad memaksimalkan sisa musim untuk menutup era empat tahun dengan hasil positif.
Alex Marquez is enduring a MotoGP 2026 season far below expectations. After an impressive 2025 in which he frequently occupied top-two positions, he now sits eighth in the standings with 172 points, 73 behind Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46), who also rides a Ducati GP26. Ducati had given him a factory-spec bike to repeat last year's brilliant form.
Gresini team manager Michele Masini insists Alex's speed has not disappeared. He believes the collarbone injury the Spanish rider suffered in May is still affecting his performance. “We knew that after years of winning, the following years can be tough,” Masini told Motorsport.com. “The big crash in Barcelona made him miss several races. Sometimes we forget that injuries are part of the game. So far we have been unlucky, but I am very impressed because his speed has never gone away.”
Alex himself admits his right shoulder has not fully recovered. “I'm still struggling a bit with the shoulder,” he said at Mandalika. “After the injury, it wasn't bad at first because there were gaps between races. But since Misano, Austria, Japan, and especially here, I've suffered more. That's why we're saving energy and trying not to irritate the shoulder too much.”
Technical problems have also plagued him. The Ducati GP26 does not suit Alex's riding style, making it hard for him to exploit the bike's performance. The season started badly with only 28 points from the first three races. However, upon returning to Europe, he bounced back and ended Aprilia's winning streak at Jerez. Unfortunately, that momentum was halted by an incident with Pedro Acosta in Barcelona that left his collarbone broken.
Since his comeback, Alex has made several uncharacteristic mistakes. In Germany, he admitted being overconfident and crashed while running second. At Silverstone, he was the fastest Ducati but failed to finish due to a mistake he called “unacceptable.” At Motegi, the weekend turned into a disaster after two missed gear shifts. Masini stressed the importance of the rider's and team's ability to reset mentally after incidents. “The crucial thing is that the rider and the team must be able to reset each other. Sometimes after a crash, a rider needs to shift his focus and understand what happened. But it's normal to have the worst weekend of a season,” he explained.
Nevertheless, Gresini remains confident that a fully fit Alex is on par with his 2025 level. “Before Barcelona, he was there, even faster than Marc at some points,” Masini claimed. “In the second half, we still had to deal with injury recovery, but Marc remained the reference because our targets changed. We want to keep pushing to reach our targets in the riders' and teams' standings.”
Alex will close out his four-year chapter with Gresini over the remaining five races. The team wants to end the partnership on a sweet note. Masini praised Alex's determination to return to the highest level. “I appreciate his strength and determination to come back. He did everything necessary to recover after every session and race. Back-to-back races don't help recovery, but he kept trying to be fast, and it worked. We will maximize every weekend. I am very proud of him,” Masini concluded.
With such up-and-down form, can Alex Marquez close the season with consistency and prove he deserves a factory seat? The remaining five races will be his final test with Gresini.
