Marc Marquez admits tough winter as Ducati world champion targets full fitness for Thailand opener

14:30, 19 Jan

Updated: 16:06, 19 Jan

byAndrew McLarney

Marc Marquez has spoken about the difficulties he faced during the winter break as he struggled to recover from yet another injury to his right arm. The reigning world champion still aims to be back to full fitness in time for the first round of the season in Thailand on 27th February - 1 March.

Speaking at the Ducati launch event in Madonna di Campiglio earlier today, Marquez was asked about the difficulties he has faced since his crash and subsequent injury in Indonesia last year.

"It was a long winter," said the nine-time world champion, "a bit harder than I expected because in the beginning it was not bad but then we had a few difficulties which just delayed a bit the introduction of riding a bike, but yeah now we are riding in a good way and looks like everything is working in a good way. The main target is to arrive at 100% in Thailand."

The injury, which saw Marquez miss out on the final four rounds of the 2025 season after he had already clinched the title in Japan, was the latest in a series of challenging setbacks which have come to define the latter half of the champion's career.

Following a brutal crash in Jerez 2020 which sidelined him for a full season, Marquez spent the next three years battling for less-than-satisfactory results.

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Further injuries in Indonesia 2022 and Portugal 2023 left many wondering if he could ever return to the peak of his powers, but he proved all doubters wrong in 2025 with a stunning return to championship glory while donning Ducati red.

While Marc's future in the sport remains uncertain, Ducati boss Davide Tardozzi was keen to stress that Ducati are looking to retain his services into 2027 and beyond.

When asked whether Ducati would be waiting to see on-track results before signing any new rider contracts, the factory team manager insisted "we are looking to try to renew the world champion."

"At this moment we are really focussed on the first test. We are not under pressure. Again, we would like to fix [the contract] of the world champion, but we'll see."