Marc Marquez: ‘2026 Ducati ready to win the title;…

Marc Marquez says that his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia’s victory in the Czech Grand Prix sprint proves that Ducati’s 2026 MotoGP bike is capable of winning the title.

Lining up third on the grid, Bagnaia grabbed the lead at the start on his factory Ducati, passing both polesitter Ai Ogura and VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio on the run down to Turn 1.

For the remainder of the race, the three-time world champion came under intense pressure from the Trackhouse Aprilia rider, who closed in rapidly on him in the final laps.

But Bagnaia didn’t put a foot wrong and eventually crossed the finish line 0.241s ahead, claiming his first sprint win of 2026 and the fifth for Ducati in nine attempts.

More significantly, it allowed Ducati to close the gap to Aprilia in all three championships, particularly with points leader Marco Bezzecchi crashing out on the penultimate lap and Jorge Martin only managing fifth.

Asked about Ducati’s progress in recent races, Marquez said the onus is now on the marque's riders to do justice to the bike at their disposal.

“I say to you that the bike is ready to win the championship. It’s a matter of riders. We need to do better,” he told MotoGP.com.

Marquez’s comment follows similar remarks on Friday, when he suggested Aprilia didn’t have the best bike on the grid.

“The Aprilia is not ahead; its riders are. That’s where we have to keep working, because the Ducati is capable of winning,” he said.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images)

Marquez himself finished third in the half-distance race at Brno, just after a second behind the top Aprilia of Ogura.

While the nine-time world champion scored a memorable win in Hungary earlier this month, he is yet to return to full fitness, and has to come up with creative ways to avoid fatigue.

“I'm happy with how we tried to manage energy, but in this way, you cannot fight or do a perfect weekend.

“Yesterday, I pushed four laps in the FP1 and four laps in the FP2. This morning, I was just concentrating more on the rhythm.

“But the way to try the things and the way to take the reference is super difficult - but it's the only way I can survive the weekend right now.”

Asked about his expectations for Sunday’s grand prix, he added: “Top 5 is the result [I can aim for], especially starting from fifth place. Today I lost some positions at the start. Let's see if I can start better and try to be close to the top guys.”