Pablo Nieto backs Marc Marquez to catch Marco Bezzecchi in the 2026 Title Race
Pablo Nieto still has confidence in Marc Marquez closing the gap to Marco Bezzecchi in the 2026 MotoGP title race.
Despite winning the world championship last season, Marc Marquez has not started the season on the strongest note this year.
The Ducati rider finds himself 36 points behind Marco Bezzecchi, as Aprilia have been dominant to start 2026.
Marquez looked worried at the United States Grand Prix, partly due to the injuries he sustained during his FP1 crash. And it led to another poor performance during the race.
Even though injury concerns are affecting Ducati’s early-season form, VR46 team manager Pablo Nieto is standing by his view that Marquez remains the favourite for the championship.
Pablo Nieto Backs Marc Marquez as Still the ‘Favourite’ to Catch Marco Bezzecchi in MotoGP Title Race
VR46 team boss Pablo Nieto has had his say on the championship fight between Marquez and Bezzecchi, giving his take in an interview with Diario Sport.
While Bezzecchi has made a strong start to the season, opening up a healthy gap at the top of the standings, Nieto is still backing Marquez.
“Marc is Marc. Obviously, I think he’s still the favourite. I still consider him the favourite because, even though he doesn’t have the number one on his fairing, he’s the world champion.
“He’s the one who really made the difference last year, we know he’s coming back from an injury, and he’s the rider to beat.
“Although Bezzecchi is in fantastic form right now and he’s having a great season with Aprilia, I still think Marc Márquez is the rider to beat.”
Marquez suffered a dislocated finger following an FP1 crash at COTA earlier this season. While there were hopes that it would not impact his season too much, it has become clear that there was some fallout in terms of form and fitness.
It hasn’t stopped him from performing altogether, though. His worst result came during round four in Argentina, where he placed 7th while also picking up three podiums throughout rounds two through six.
Still, Marquez knows that if he wants to close down Bezzecchi this year, then both his performances and health will need to improve quickly before more ground is lost early in 2026.
Pablo Nieto: Ducati isn’t that far behind Aprilia
Speaking further in the interview, Nieto praised the work Aprilia has put into their bike but said he didn’t think they had a major edge over Ducati.
“Aprilia has been a step ahead in the first three races. I think it’s more about the overall package. Both Marco (Bezzecchi) and Martín are in great form.
“I’ve seen Marco especially since last year, when he also won the last two races; he’s starting to feel really comfortable with the bike.
“Aprilia has worked very well; aerodynamically, they’re constantly doing different things, and it seems to be working, but I don’t think they’re that much ahead of Ducati at the moment.
“Now we’re going back to Jerez, where it’s always been said that the championship starts in Europe. Although I don’t entirely agree with that, it’s true that we start in Europe, and after four or five races, you start to see what the general direction of the championship will be.”
He added that now things were moving to Europe for Jerez, where Marquez is at home and will no doubt be looking to make up ground on Bezzecchi.
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