Marc Márquez crashed three times during the final pre‑season test at Buriram, visiting the medical center after each fall and failing to complete a race simulation. He said a stomach bug left him tired and briefly lacking concentration, and he acknowledged that a prior shoulder injury had not recovered as well as expected — some outlets describe that damage as a coracoid fracture with right‑shoulder ligament injury that required surgery and sidelined him for the final four rounds of 2025, while others refer to a broken collarbone.

Despite the setbacks, Márquez posted the third‑fastest time at Buriram overall; his Sepang outing before Buriram was described as broadly successful, but he was unable to reproduce a full race run in Thailand. Teammates Alex Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia completed stronger race‑simulation laps in testing; Bagnaia posted the fourth‑fastest time at Buriram and abandoned a final‑day simulation after a technical issue.

Reactions were mixed: Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi said the crashes should not influence Márquez’s performance at the Thai GP and that Ducati expects him to be a championship contender from the first race. Stefan Bradl framed the incidents as part of Márquez’s process of relearning his limits and suggested the rider could be “very dangerous” once he rediscovers them. By contrast, Ducati adviser Peter Bom called the first crash “really, really silly,” said Márquez no longer bounces back as he used to and is more vulnerable with a shoulder that has not fully recovered, warning there is a serious chance he might not dominate or win the 2026 title despite remaining among the pre‑race favourites. The converging facts — three crashes with medical checks after each, illness and lingering injury concerns — leave uncertainty over how quickly Márquez can rebuild fitness and confidence ahead of the opening rounds.

Sources