Ducati footage shows Marc Marquez calling GP26 a ‘disaster’ after Brazil qualifying

Why Marc Marquez wasn’t happy with the changes made for Brazil

Marc Marquez described the GP26 as a ‘disaster’ after Brazilian qualifying. Ducati’s weekend didn’t get any help from the track conditions, with delays before the Sprint and a shortened main race adding to their troubles. But issues had already appeared earlier, highlighted by Marquez’s crash in qualifying.

Although he still secured a front-row start, his comments about the bike were far from positive. In footage posted on Ducati’s YouTube channel, he spoke openly to his engineers about how poor the second bike felt.

“The feeling with the second bike was a disaster… disaster,” he is heard saying. Asked what caused the problem, whether it be the bike or the tyres, he simply replied: “I don’t know.”

While he did note that “the feeling with the first bike was impressive,” his frustration with the second machine was clear. Back in parc ferme, when asked about qualifying, Marquez shook his head and mentioned problems with the front end.

On Sunday, after finishing behind Fabio Di Giannantonio – whom he had beaten in Saturday’s Sprint – Marquez said: “From the start I felt [the same as] qualifying. Diggia is very good at those long corners. He’s always strong.”

Is there any real pressure building on Marc Marquez this season?

The Sprint race in Goiania showed that Ducati and Marquez can still fight at the front in 2026, but it also made clear that Aprilia have become stronger over full race distances.

Even within Ducati, there seems to be an acceptance that Aprilia now have an edge. Technical director Luigi Dall’Igna admitted that Marquez hasn’t found anything like last year’s confidence with this new version of their bike.

Sitting fifth in points and trailing Bezzecchi by 22 early on isn’t enough to cause alarm just yet. Petrucci dismissed talk of panic around Marquez’s form or approach.