Marc Marquez could achieve two major milestones during the 2026 MotoGP season as he looks to further cement his place among motorsport’s all-time greats.
At last year’s San Marino Grand Prix on 14 September, he clinched his 73rd victory in MotoGP and 99th across all three classes. With six grands prix left in the season at that stage, no one doubted his chances of securing his 100th world championship win before the end of that campaign.
He was also firmly in contention to surpass Valentino Rossi as the most successful rider in the MotoGP era, which began in 2002. Rossi scored victory number 76 of his MotoGP career on 25 June, 2017, when he beat Danilo Petrucci by just 68 thousandths of a second at the Dutch Grand Prix.
However, after clinching his seventh premier class title — and ninth world championship — in Japan with a second-place finish behind team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, Marquez would not have another chance to add to his win tally in 2025. A collision with Marco Bezzecchi at the start of the Indonesian Grand Prix left the Spaniard with a shoulder injury in his already battered right arm, which sidelined him from action for the remainder of the season.
Apart from the lost opportunity at Mandalika, he ended up missing the final four races of 2025 and, with that, the chance to achieve his 100th victory and close in on Rossi’s MotoGP record of 76.
Early chances in 2026
If we take last season as a reference, Marquez may not have to wait long to achieve his next milestone. He managed to score his first win as a factory Ducati rider at the opening round in Thailand. Buriram is a track that suits him well, providing him with an early opportunity for reaching that elusive 100th victory of his professional career.
If he is unable to achieve that milestone in the Thailand Grand Prix, he would most certainly do so in the early part of the season, provided he can fully recover from his shoulder injury. After the Buriram season opener, MotoGP will travel to Brazil at the renovated Goiania circuit, which has never been used in the MotoGP era. This makes it an ideal venue for Marquez, who usually thrives at new tracks, especially in low-grip conditions. Brazil will be followed by Austin, which is widely considered as one of the best tracks for Marquez on the calendar, although overconfidence led to him crashing out of the race last year.
Podium: second place Danilo Petrucci, Pramac Racing, Race winner Valentino Rossi, Yamaha Factory Racing, third place Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Rossi’s record
Without a doubt, one of the main goals for Marquez would be to become the rider with the most wins in the MotoGP, a record held by Rossi with 76, three more than him.
If the Spaniard started the season with three consecutive victories, he could equal the record at the Americas GP in Austin. More realistically, that third win could come later in the season.
Whether it’s in Jerez, Barcelona, Mugello or anywhere else, things would have to go very badly for Marquez not to have a genuine opportunity to become the most successful MotoGP rider in terms of race wins. With 22 grands prix scheduled in 2026, the same number as in 2025, he will have no shortage of chances. Add to the fact that he scored 11 wins last year, and he enters 2026 as the firm favourite.
It must be stressed that Rossi still comfortably holds the record for the most grand prix wins in premier class history at 89, having also scored 13 wins during the championship’s 500cc era.
All MotoGP race winners:
Valentino Rossi: 76 victories
Marc Marquez: 73 victories
Jorge Lorenzo: 47 victories
Casey Stoner: 38 wins
Dani Pedrosa: 31 victories
Francesco Bagnaia: 31 victories
Andrea Dovizioso: 15 wins
Fabio Quartararo: 11 victories
Maverick Vinales: 10 wins
Jorge Martín: 8 victories
Sete Gibernau: 8 victories
Loris Capirossi: 7 wins
Alex Rins: 6 wins
Enea Bastianini: 6 victories
Max Biaggi: 5 wins
Marco Melandri: 5 wins
Miguel Oliveira: 5 victories
Marco Bezzecchi: 5 wins
Jack Miller: 4 wins
Cal Crutchlow: 3 wins
Alex Barros: 3 wins
Nicky Hayden: 3 wins
Franco Morbidelli: 3 wins
Aleix Espargaro: 3 wins
Alex Marquez: 3 wins
Danilo Petrucci: 2 wins
Makoto Tamada: 2 wins
Chris Vermeulen: 2 wins
Brad Binder: 2 wins
Johann Zarco: 2 wins
Tohru Ukawa: 1 win
Toni Elias: 1 victory
Troy Bayliss: 1 win
Ben Spies: 1 win
Andrea Iannone: 1 win
Joan Mir: 1 win
Fabio Di Giannantonio: 1 win
Fermin Aldeguer: 1 win
Raul Fernandez: 1 win
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