Marquez on the duel with Martin: “It was a big risk; he pushed his bike a bit too hard”

According to Marc Marquez, there was more at stake in the duel with Jorge Martin than just a three-point gap – both were riding at the limit, but Martin pushed his bike a bit too hard

With his victory in the Australian Sprint and following the retirement of Aprilia rider Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez has taken the lead in the World Championship. The Ducati rider now tops the overall standings with a ten-point lead over Martin.

“It was an extremely close and tough battle,” says Marc Marquez of the spectacular eight-lap duel. “Aggressive, but within the bounds of what’s allowed. First and foremost, I hope he’s all right.”

When Marc Marquez spoke about the race immediately after the sprint, Martin was still in the medical centre. At that point, he did not yet know that Martin had broken a bone in his right wrist.

According to Marquez, it was a duel in which the World Championship was truly at stake: “Today was a tough battle. Eight laps at the absolute limit. For eight laps we were battling for the same thing – those twelve points.”

“The thing is, today there was more at stake than just a three-point gap. Today was the moment to go for it. After all, he knows this is one of my favourite circuits.”

“And I know it’s a circuit where the Aprilia performs really well. All things considered, I probably wouldn’t have ridden like that without Martin. But today, you simply had to take a chance.”

“To be honest, he was a touch faster than me today. But during the lap he rode right in front of me, two things became clear to me. After that, I realised victory was within reach. So I launched a counter-attack.‘

According to the lap records, Martin was only ahead of Marc Marquez at the finish line at the end of the third and fourth laps. ’The key moment of the race was the lap he led,‘ says Marc Marquez. ’ That’s when I realised a few things.”

“It dawned on me that, whilst he was fast, he was taking enormous risks. His bike was very unstable and he was pushing it a bit too hard.” In fact, Martin kept making small mistakes.

On one occasion, he missed the apex at the Miller hairpin and lost the lead. After Martin had overtaken twice at the Doohan Bend (Turn 1), he immediately lost the lead again at the Southern Loop (Turn 2).

THIS IS CLASSIC #MotoGP 🎞️

INCREDIBLE BATTLE 🤯

#AustralianGP 🇦🇺 https://t.co/YKgFWs6YTl

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) 24 October 2026

“At that point I knew,” says Marc Márquez, “right, let’s see. Now it’s time to take the risk. There’s no question that over thirteen laps at this level, it’s extremely unlikely that both of us will make it to the finish.”

“He made the mistake. I was also on the verge of making a mistake. But that’s just the way racing goes.” On the eighth lap, Martin made the decisive mistake in the fast right-hand Turn 8 and crashed.

Prior to that, he had attacked on the eighth lap at the Doohan Corner and the Miller Hairpin, but Marquez had held his ground on both occasions. After Martin’s crash, Marc Marquez had his brother Alex Marquez on his tail in the closing stages.

Alex Marquez: No risk-taking against his brother

However, the Gresini Ducati rider did not attempt to overtake. “Perhaps I was a tenth, two tenths, one and a half tenths faster,” says Alex Marquez. “But in the end I pushed a little too hard, that was the point.”

“It’s also true that on that fast lap, when I was trying to close the gap again, I wore out the rear tyre a bit too much at that moment.”

“In the end, I was right on Marc’s tail, but it would have been too risky to attempt an overtaking manoeuvre against him, as he’s fighting for the World Championship,” says Alex Márquez, admitting that he didn’t want to take any risks against his brother.

As he watched the duel between the two World Championship rivals earlier on, he’d already thought that neither of them would see the chequered flag and that he himself might benefit from it.

“There was a high probability that both would crash or something like that would happen,” says Alex Márquez. “When I saw that brilliant battle and then had to witness Jorge’s crash, it really hurt.”

“The spectacle put on by both of them – the title contenders – was absolutely fantastic. The risk was enormous, and both of them took full risks with every single manoeuvre.”

Martin will not be on the starting grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. He is undergoing further examination by CT scan at a hospital in Melbourne to determine the exact extent of the injury.

If the fracture of the radius is not displaced, he will remain in Melbourne to try and compete at Sepang. If there is displacement or if the ulna near the wrist is also fractured, he will travel to Spain as soon as possible for an operation.