Bezzecchi’s strong 2026 start hit a snag after Le Mans
Marco Bezzecchi has looked sharp in his three race wins so far this season, but his losses have highlighted a potential weakness in his title challenge.
The Italian carried over the strong form he showed at the end of 2025, winning the first three races of 2026 and leading every lap along the way. Marc Marquez was open about how impressed he was with Bezzecchi’s early control of the season.
Marquez went as far as to call him “unstoppable” at one point, though that view has shifted recently following back-to-back defeats to Alex Marquez in Jerez and teammate Jorge Martin in Le Mans.
In France, Bezzecchi had taken advantage of Francesco Bagnaia’s poor start to lead early on. But Martin closed down the gap late in the race and made a bold move into turn two to take the lead for good.
Bezzecchi couldn’t find a way back past and had to settle for second place. That result trimmed his championship lead over Martin down to just one point, raising some questions about how well he can handle direct battles when they come up.
Neil Hodgson calls Marco Bezzecchi’s wins ‘boring’ – title defence in question
Bezzecchi has shown he can dominate races when he gets clear of the field, but Neil Hodgson thinks those wins have lacked excitement.
Speaking on TNT Sports 2 after the French GP, he said: “It was a much better race than we were expecting. I was a bit nervous when Bez got the lead. Because we’ve seen, some of his wins, I’m not ant-Bez as you know, I’m a huge fan as well. But his race wins have been a bit boring.
“He’s checked out and controlled it and I thought, ‘Here we go again.’ Actually I didn’t miss him [Marquez] today because it was a cracking race.”
While Bezzecchi looks comfortable when leading alone, he hasn’t had many answers once another rider closes the gap.
The Le Mans race highlighted this issue perfectly. Martin’s constant pressure eventually paid off, and once Bezzecchi lost the lead, he couldn’t recover. Right now, Bezzecchi only seems to win from the front, struggling when things get close.
Martin is back in form and proving himself as a serious contender. If Bezzecchi doesn’t find a way to compete more effectively in direct battles, leading from the front won’t be enough to carry him through 2026.
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