Dani Pedrosa says Marc Marquez will never win a title if he doesn’t start the season well.

There are encouraging signs. Ducati The rider who won the Goiania Sprint after fighting Pedro Acosta to the finish in Saturday’s race in Thailand. He believes he could have scored a podium in Buriram if not for the race-ending tire failure.

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Dani Pedrosa says Marc Marquez is in injury limitation mode.

Although it is early days and there are obvious mitigating factors, Pedrosa He is concerned about Marquez. His former team-mate said that he only wins the trophy when he starts well.

But Marquez enters 2026 still not fully recovered from the shoulder injury that ended his 2025 season.

What’s more? Luigi D’Aligna says Marquez is not comfortable yet. On the bike, he was the only rider who could consistently tame Ducati’s troubled GP25 last year.

While Marquez may be in injury-limitation mode, Pedrosa says Bezecchi is taking full advantage, even though the Aprilia rider himself has left 12 points on the table after crashing out of the lead in the Thai Sprint.

“If you look at the championships that Mark has won, I doubt that he won the first and second round. Maybe this is the first time that Mark has started the world championship without winning the first and second round.

“What I mean is that we’re seeing that Mark is not in the best shape either physically, with the bike or both.

“And he’s playing, ‘Well, it’s not the best time, I’m going to score as many points as I can until we get things right and I’m ready to win the card. Besides, Bezeci is taking full advantage of this.’

We checked the records – Dani Pedrosa was wrong about Marc Marquez

Marquez has produced seven title-winning seasons in the premier class and won at least one of the opening two races in five of them. He won the first round in 2012 before taking the Moto2 title.

But the Spaniard had to wait until three rounds in 2017 and 2018 to top the rankings. Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati raced him closely at first, but a year later he won three races.

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It is worth noting that in both seasons, the third race was held on the American circuit. This further emphasizes the importance of this weekend’s big race.

The United States GP is a litmus test for Marquez.Also Aprilia. If Bezecchi and Martin can beat him here, on a track described by Massimo Rivola as his ‘home’, Ducati should be seriously concerned.