Shoulder injury pushes Marc Marquez into his third-longest winless streak in MotoGP

Marc Marquez’s last MotoGP victory dates back to the San Marino Grand Prix in September 2025, just weeks before he sealed the world championship in Japan with a second-place finish.

Less than a week after Motegi, the Ducati rider was injured in Indonesia after being struck by Marco Bezzecchi, sustaining a right shoulder injury that still affects him today. The incident brought an abrupt end to a remarkable run of 11 wins from the first 16 races of the 2025 season, part of one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.

Marquez has not won a race since that triumph on 14 September. He finished second at Motegi, was injured in Mandalika, and missed the final rounds of 2025 in Phillip Island, Sepang, Portimao and Valencia. He has also been unable to break Bezzecchi’s dominance in the 2026 season.

During that span, wins have been shared between Francesco Bagnaia (Japan), Fermin Aldeguer (Indonesia), Raul Fernandez (Australia) and Alex Marquez (Malaysia), while Bezzecchi has claimed the other five – leading every lap across Portimao and Valencia in 2025, as well as Thailand, Brazil and the United States in 2026.

Technically, Marquez has only competed in four of those races – Japan 2025 and the opening three rounds of 2026 – and has failed to win all four. However, in calendar terms, nine grands prix have passed since Misano, marking the third-longest winless streak of his career.

 Four years in the wilderness

Marquez’s most difficult period began on 19 July 2020, when he suffered a serious arm injury at Jerez in the opening round of the COVID-affected season.

After undergoing two operations following an unsuccessful comeback attempt, he endured a run of 21 races without a win before returning to victory at the German Grand Prix in 2021.

However, that was not his longest drought. After winning at Sachsenring in 2021, he would not stand on the top step again until the US and San Marino GPs later that year, before embarking on an even longer barren spell.

Between 2021 and 2024, Marquez went 53 grands prix without a victory – the worst run of his career. That period included two further surgeries, the last in June 2022 to correct a 32% rotation of the humerus in his right arm.

In a bid to revive his career, Marquez terminated his Honda contract early to join Gresini in 2024 and secure a Ducati ride. Even then, he needed 11 races to claim his first win with the Italian manufacturer, which came at Aragon.

Now, with nine races without a win, he is enduring his second-worst drought since switching to Ducati machinery.

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Uncharted territory post-injury

Prior to his 2020 injury, Marquez’s record was one of remarkable consistency.

From his MotoGP debut in 2013 through to 2019, he won six world titles with Honda and never experienced a winless streak comparable to his current run. His worst sequence came in 2015 – the only year he did not win the championship – when he went six races without victory between Austin and Sachsenring.

In 2013, 2016 and 2017, he also went winless between the United States and German grands prix, although those stretches only covered five races each.

 Stuck on 99 wins

Marquez’s victory at Misano last year was his 73rd in MotoGP and the 99th of his career across all classes (10 in 125cc and 16 in Moto2).

Since then, the milestone 100th win has remained elusive. He was unable to achieve it when he sealed the 2025 title in Japan, and in the three opportunities he has had so far in 2026.

He will have another chance to both break his winless streak and reach that landmark at the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix.

However, several factors stand in his way. Marquez is still recovering from his shoulder injury, Ducati has yet to fully unlock the potential of its 2026 bike, and both Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin have emerged as formidable forces at the front.

Jerez, meanwhile, has not traditionally been one of Marquez’s strongest circuits. Since his world championship debut in 2008, he has raced there 16 times across all categories, taking just three wins — in 2014, 2018 and 2019.

Even last year, despite his dominant form on the factory Ducati, victory eluded him, with his brother Alex Marquez instead claiming his maiden premier-class win at the circuit.

Marc Marquez’s longest winless streaks

*ongoing