Nobuatsu Aoki expects Marc Marquez to challenge for the MotoGP title again in 2026, but the Ducati ace’s attitude at the Sepang test was more “impressive” than his lap time.
Marquez It will enter 2026 MotoGP season After winning one of his major campaigns last time out as champion. The 32-year-old has won 11 Grands Prix and 14 Sprint Race wins in 18 rounds from 22 occasions.
Ducati Marquez was out for the final four rounds of last year after a crash with April’s Marco Bezecchi at the Indonesian Grand Prix required surgery on his right shoulder. He suffered a coracoid fracture and ligament damage from a severe gravel trap.
In the year The 2026 Sepang test marks Marquez’s first return to MotoGP after an early end to the 2025 season due to injury. Marquez posted the fourth fastest single lap in Malaysia at 1:56.789, as well as the third fastest Sprint Race average lap time at 1:58.289.
Nobuasu Aoki impressed with how Marc Marquez handled the first 2026 pre-season test at Sepang.
Ducati has experimented with a new starter lift at the 2026 Sepang test.But only Marquez and his teammate Francesco Bagnaia tried. Jorge Lorenzo was impressed with the cornering stability of the Ducati in SepangAlso, the GP26 normally looks like an upgrade on last year’s GP25.
Read more: Every MotoGP record Marc Marquez can break in the 2026 season.
But beyond Marquez’s pace at Seppang, former Suzuki 500cc rider Aoki was impressed by how “calm” the Ducati racer was as he went through the programme. Marquez was never deterred by the threat of his brother Gresini. Alex Marquezseemed to offer.
“Marc Marquez looks strong again this year,” Aki said. Young machine. “He finished fourth overall over the three days but the quiet and calm way he went through the program was incredibly calm and collected which was amazing.”
Alex Marquez He is Marc Marquez’s biggest challenger for the MotoGP drivers’ title in 2026.
Marquez’s attitude at the Sepang test in 2026 was different from the one he had in Malaysia since joining Ducati in early 2025. Marquez admitted that he feels “less responsible” to win another title with Ducati.
Aoki expects Marquez to be in the 2026 MotoGP title fight, though, and expects it to be a family affair, too, after watching Gresini ace Alex Marquez in Sebang. Alex finished the test with the fastest lap (1:56.402) and the best Sprint Sim average (1:58.028).
“Mark was calm and collected. Alex was relaxed,” Aki added. “In my opinion, Marc still has the advantage, but this year looks like it will be a championship battle between the Marquez brothers.”
Alex Marquez He was Marc Marquez’s closest rival in 2025, finishing second in the standings in the Ducati GP24 at Gresini. Ducati awarded Alex Marquez a factory GP26 in 2026That makes him the fourth rider on a work-spec bike with VR46 Fabio Di Giannantonio.
