Marquez: No one can imagine the stress I went through at the start of the season

Pulse Sports Team 14:51 - 16 July 2026

Seven-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has revealed he needs a mental break after months of relentless effort dedicated to his recovery and return to the Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship. The Spanish Ducati rider emphasized that the immense stress he endured during this period is beyond imagination.

Marquez sustained a severe injury following a crash in Indonesia, just a week after securing his last title. The injury proved more complex than initially anticipated, involving damage to the radial nerve in his right arm, which caused it to cease responding while riding. This led to seven surgeries, with the underlying issue finally identified and resolved after the last intervention in mid-May. Remarkably, the champion returned to the track just 20 days later at the Italian Grand Prix.

"Right now, I need a mental rest. No one can truly grasp the amount of stress I went through at the start of the season. In the first five races, I was completely lost. I was crashing and couldn't understand why. My nervous system wasn't signaling any danger. At Balaton and Brno, I pushed myself to an extent that most people wouldn't manage in an entire season," Marquez stated. "From January until Brno, I spent countless hours in physiotherapy, and my goals were constantly shifting. Now, I'm down to two hours a day. Since the Netherlands, the swelling has become less frequent, which has allowed me to focus on my left arm. As strange as it sounds, I have less strength in my right arm but more pain in my left," he continued.

Mid-season, Marquez currently sits third in the overall standings with 190 points, trailing leader Jorge Martin by 18 points. So far this campaign, Marquez has secured three victories in the nine races he has competed in, triumphing in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Germany last week.