LE MANS, France, May 9 (Reuters) - Ducati's Marc Marquez will miss Sunday's French Grand Prix and next weekend's Catalan race as he needs surgery after fracturing his foot in a crash in Saturday's sprint in Le Mans, while he will also have surgery on his shoulder.
Marquez suffered a nasty highside crash in the sprint and the world champion was thrown off his bike, which cartwheeled through the air before landing beside him.
The Spaniard had planted his right foot on the track just before he was thrown off and the 33-year-old was seen hopping on one leg before he was taken to the medical centre.
"After a medical check and X-ray, Marc Marquez was declared unfit for a fifth metatarsal fracture in his right foot. He will fly to Madrid tonight to undergo surgery," Ducati said in a statement.
The injury is another blow for the world champion who has yet to finish on the podium this season.
Marquez sits fifth in the standings, 51 points behind Aprilia's championship leader Marco Bezzecchi.
MARQUEZ TO UNDERGO TWO SURGERIES
Marquez later revealed he will also have a separate shoulder surgery -- which was originally scheduled for after his home Catalan Grand Prix.
"I realised something wasn't right (after the Spanish Grand Prix). We went to see the doctors and they found that everything was fine, but the infamous broken screw in my lateral ligament was in a different position," Marquez told DAZN.
"It was a very strange sensation, because at home I felt fine. But when I came here, it impeded my riding because it was touching the radial nerve. That's what causes me to make mistakes, be inconsistent and have unexpected crashes.
"That's why I was so calm ... The shoulder procedure is simply a matter of opening it up and removing that screw. It shouldn't take long."
Marquez will now target a return at the Italian Grand Prix scheduled for May 29-31 at Mugello, Ducati's home turf.
MARQUEZ STRUGGLING WITH INJURIES AND CONFIDENCE
Marquez has struggled with injuries since October when he suffered a collarbone injury as a result of a collision with Bezzecchi at the Indonesia Grand Prix, soon after sealing his seventh MotoGP crown.
The Spaniard missed the last four rounds of the 2025 season and he has not been as fast aboard the Ducati compared to runaway leaders Aprilia, with Bezzecchi and teammate Martin separated by six points in the championship.
Marquez said on Friday the bike was not the problem after he finished 13th-fastest in practice.
"I need to work in the garage to build my confidence, because right now we're not ready to show our speed or to fight for the championship," he said.
"It's not that the others are going faster, it's that I'm going slower. Apart from the first race of the year, I haven't been the fastest Ducati rider at any point."
Marquez looked back to his best when he smashed the lap record at Le Mans in qualifying on Saturday but fell from second on the grid to seventh in the sprint before his crash.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra, Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)
