The reigning world champion had a mixed weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix this past weekend, with a sensational pole position and sprint victory, but everything came undone in the early stages of Sunday's race. After a tentative opening lap in which he was passed by his younger brother, Alex, Marc then crashed while trying to follow on just the 2nd lap of the race - recording his second DNF in the opening four rounds.

Marquez now trails Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi, the current championship leader, by 44 points in the overall standings, a deficit that will be difficult to overcome - but not impossible.

Speaking to the media after the race, Marc Marquez gave the following assessment of the crash:

"Our race finished earlier, but we enjoyed the Spanish GP from Thursday to today." He said, "Unluckily, our race finished early, but nothing to say - just a mistake."

"It was just a mistake. Sometimes it happens, and in those first laps of the race, I was trying to control everything, because I knew that Alex was faster than everybody in dry conditions this weekend."

"I mean, I was stronger on Saturday in rain conditions, but on Friday in dry conditions we were far from the fastest riders. So, we need to keep working to understand where we can improve."

Marc Marquez has ruled out a return to his long-time team at Honda as speculation around his future in the MotoGP paddock continues to grow. Marquez, the current reigning world champion, has yet to confirm whether he will even be racing next year, let alone which team it will be for. While the most likely option is a multi-year renewal with Ducati, some were speculating that he may also consider a move back to Honda. Read all about the world champion's comments here.