"He didn't take advantage of his title," Johann Zarco analyzes Marc Márquez's black weekend

Marc Márquez suffered a major setback in Indonesia, breaking his collarbone during the main race. While he wasn't responsible for the incident, as Marco Bezzecchi had collided with him at Turn 6 on the first lap on Sunday, his weekend so far hasn't been brilliant.

Forced into Q1 for the first time this season, the 2025 world champion finished only 7th in a sprint where he made a big mistake after a discreet start. This series of inaccuracies, rare for the number 93, suggests that he has completely released the pressure on Mandalika, he who had secured his 9th world title seven days earlier.

For Johann Zarco, there's no doubt about it. During a press conference in Mandalika, the Frenchman pointed out the lack of recovery time the Ducati rider received between the Japanese and Indonesian GPs.

“It’s true. Bez [Marco Bezzecchi] rushed a bit. It’s more in the image that I saw it. I didn’t even see that Marc [Márquez] had crashed on the first lap. I just saw a black bike. And I thought it was a technical problem for Bez. Because I see him straight ahead. I didn’t notice that there was a guy almost under him. But it’s hard for Marc.”

He pursues : "It's almost our championship that's a shame about that. We're racing so hard that we don't even have time to enjoy a world title. Because whether it's Marc or anyone else, racing MotoGP or simply riding MotoGP, you have to be in an extreme mental condition all the time to be able to dominate the subject. So, when you want to breathe, you pay cash. And it's a shame because he should have enjoyed his title a little more. But no, he had an evening to enjoy himself. And then he came home. I think it's more the sequence of races that makes you let your guard down. Even if it's not his fault [for the fall], as luck would have it.

Since 2023, riders have been competing in two events per weekend, a sprint race plus the main race, bringing their total to more than 40 starts per year. Doubling the number of races also means doubling the risk of injury. Especially since the calendar is increasingly packed. In 2025, there will be 22 events on the schedule, compared to only 19 races in 2019, when Marc Márquez last won the title.

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