Marc Marquez may obtain two main milestones throughout the 2026 MotoGP season as he appears to additional cement his place amongst motorsport’s all-time greats.
Eventually 12 months’s San Marino Grand Prix on 14 September, he clinched his 73rd victory in MotoGP and 99th throughout all three lessons. With six grands prix left within the season at that stage, nobody doubted his probabilities of securing his one hundredth world championship win earlier than the tip of that marketing campaign.
He was additionally firmly in competition to surpass Valentino Rossi as probably the most profitable rider within the MotoGP period, which started in 2002. Rossi scored victory quantity 76 of his MotoGP profession on 25 June, 2017, when he beat Danilo Petrucci by simply 68 thousandths of a second on the Dutch Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, after clinching his seventh premier class title – and ninth world championship – in Japan with a second-place end behind team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, Marquez wouldn’t have one other likelihood so as to add to his win tally in 2025. A collision with Marco Bezzecchi firstly of the Indonesian Grand Prix left the Spaniard with a shoulder damage in his already battered proper arm, which sidelined him from motion for the rest of the season.
Other than the misplaced alternative at Mandalika, he ended up lacking the ultimate 4 races of 2025 and, with that, the possibility to realize his one hundredth victory and shut in on Rossi’s MotoGP document of 76.
Early possibilities in 2026
If we take final season as a reference, Marquez could not have to attend lengthy to realize his subsequent milestone. He managed to attain his first win as a manufacturing facility Ducati rider on the opening spherical in Thailand. Buriram is a monitor that fits him effectively, offering him with an early alternative for reaching that elusive one hundredth victory of his skilled profession.
If he’s unable to realize that milestone within the Thailand Grand Prix, he would most definitely accomplish that within the early a part of the season, supplied he can totally recuperate from his shoulder damage. After the Buriram season opener, MotoGP will journey to Brazil on the renovated Goiania circuit, which has by no means been used within the MotoGP period. This makes it a perfect venue for Marquez, who normally thrives at new tracks, particularly in low-grip situations. Brazil can be adopted by Austin, which is broadly thought of as among the best tracks for Marquez on the calendar, though overconfidence led to him crashing out of the race final 12 months.
Podium: second place Danilo Petrucci, Pramac Racing, Race winner Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Manufacturing facility Racing, third place Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Staff
Picture by: Gold and Goose Pictures / LAT Pictures / by way of Getty Pictures
Rossi’s document
Indisputably, one of many important targets for Marquez could be to develop into the rider with probably the most wins within the MotoGP, a document held by Rossi with 76, three greater than him.
If the Spaniard began the season with three consecutive victories, he may equal the document on the Americas GP in Austin. Extra realistically, that third win may come later within the season.
Whether or not it is in Jerez, Barcelona, Mugello or anyplace else, issues must go very badly for Marquez to not have a real alternative to develop into probably the most profitable MotoGP rider when it comes to race wins. With 22 grands prix scheduled in 2026, the identical quantity as in 2025, he could have no scarcity of possibilities. Add to the truth that he scored 11 wins final 12 months, and he enters 2026 because the agency favorite.
It should be confused that Rossi nonetheless comfortably holds the document for probably the most grand prix wins in premier class historical past at 89, having additionally scored 13 wins throughout the championship’s 500cc period.
All MotoGP race winners:
Valentino Rossi: 76 victories
Marc Marquez: 73 victories
Jorge Lorenzo: 47 victories
Casey Stoner: 38 wins
Dani Pedrosa: 31 victories
Francesco Bagnaia: 31 victories
Andrea Dovizioso: 15 wins
Fabio Quartararo: 11 victories
Maverick Vinales: 10 wins
Jorge Martín: 8 victories
Sete Gibernau: 8 victories
Loris Capirossi: 7 wins
Alex Rins: 6 wins
Enea Bastianini: 6 victories
Max Biaggi: 5 wins
Marco Melandri: 5 wins
Miguel Oliveira: 5 victories
Marco Bezzecchi: 5 wins
Jack Miller: 4 wins
Cal Crutchlow: 3 wins
Alex Barros: 3 wins
Nicky Hayden: 3 wins
Franco Morbidelli: 3 wins
Aleix Espargaro: 3 wins
Alex Marquez: 3 wins
Danilo Petrucci: 2 wins
Makoto Tamada: 2 wins
Chris Vermeulen: 2 wins
Brad Binder: 2 wins
Johann Zarco: 2 wins
Tohru Ukawa: 1 win
Toni Elias: 1 victory
Troy Bayliss: 1 win
Ben Spies: 1 win
Andrea Iannone: 1 win
Joan Mir: 1 win
Fabio Di Giannantonio: 1 win
Fermin Aldeguer: 1 win
Raul Fernandez: 1 win
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– The Motorsport.com Staff
