Neil Hodgson feels ‘Cup of China’ is riding in fear after watching Marc Marquez at the French Grand Prix.

Home hero Yohan Zarco put his pace in practice at the French GP For the LCR it was 1:29.907 on the Honda RC213V. Marquez’s woes weren’t the Ducati GP26’s inability to handle the circuit, with three other riders on GP26 joining Zarco in locking up the top four.

VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio continues his trend of being very consistent. Ducati A rider riding in GP26, the Italian finished 0.010s slower than Zarco on Friday. Factory Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia and Gresini’s Alex Marquez both clocked 1:30.045s for P3 and P4.

Yohan Zarco set himself the fastest practice time at Le Mans in Q2… Can Marc Marquez get through in Q1? 👀

Neil Hodgson sees Marc Marquez looking ‘broken’ at French Grand Prix

While his fellow GP26 riders ran well, Marquez struggled in practice in the French GP rather than the Ducati GP26. Hodgson The Spaniard appeared to be “weary” and did not want to deal with another injury. He is still recovering from his shoulder surgery last October.

Read more: Marc Marquez’s first MotoGP title with Ducati was defined in five moments

Marquez suffered a coracoid fracture and ligament damage to his right shoulder after being taken out by Aprilia’s Marco Bezeci at the 2025 Indonesian Grand Prix. But Hodgson feels Marquez showed at Le Mans that he is still riding within himself to avoid another injury.

Hodgson said. TNT Sports 2 (08/05, 14:39): “(Marquez) doesn’t look at himself, he’s a little off, it’s the truth, isn’t it?

“I saw him this morning, and I saw him this afternoon, he got up, and he was really calm. I mean, he was really calm. And I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I can see him thinking, because that has never been his approach.

And eventually those non-260 crashes will catch up with you. Now, he is thinking that because he is weak, he cannot afford to go down at the beginning of the session. It’s like the China Cup now. He apparently threw the weekend away in America.

Silvan Guintoli thinks Marc Marquez’s injury has made him lose his ‘edge’

Was MotoGP right to change the pit entry rules after Marc Marquez’s Jerez sprint debacle?

Marquez said the injury caused his struggles. Earlier in the season than the issues with adapting to the Ducati GP26. The 33-year-old finally arrived in Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix, saying he was satisfied with his shoulder.

But his tune seems to have changed when he got to Le Mans Marquez pointed out that Ducati made the GP26 “relatively slow”. In fast corners – especially left-handers. The seven-time champion is not happy with the front end of the Ducati bike.

Add in Marquez’s shoulder injury, and Sylvan Guintoli The 73-time MotoGP Grand Prix winner agrees with Hodgson that he has lost the “edge” he showed in his career. The Spanish He is yet to score a Grand Prix podium in 2026 and sits fifth in the standings.

Guintoli added: “If you look back at all his years in MotoGP, there’s an edge, there’s always an edge, and that edge, this year, we’re struggling to see. I know he’s still recovering from his injury. That edge, it seems to be gone a little bit.”