Alex Marquez ruled out of Italy and Hungary races after undergoing surgery following crash at Grand Prix Catalunya

Marquez was chasing Pedro Acosta at close range, and the latter's KTM appeared to suffer a brief but dramatic fault.

A short loss of pace caused Marquez’s Ducati bike to collide with the machine ahead of him, at such force that Acosta’s rear tyre burst.

It was far worse for Marquez, who was thrown from his bike and into the gravel, with the crash appearing so severe that race organisers quickly brought out the red flag.

There was a lengthy pause in the race as Marquez received an extended period of treatment from medical staff at the track, before being taken to hospital in Barcelona in an ambulance.

It was later confirmed that Marquez would undergo surgery on a clavicle fracture, while the rider provided an update prior to going under the knife.

"Everything under control," the post read, alongside a picture of a smiling Marquez. "Time to go into the operating room tonight, but I couldn't be in better hands.

"Huge thanks to everyone for your concern and for the loving messages I'm receiving."

The 2026 MotoGP season returns next weekend with the Grand Prix of Italy, which is followed by the Grand Prix of Hungary on the weekend of June 6.

Marquez will be absent from both races, as he was pictured with his arm in a sling and wearing a neck brace.

TNT Sports pundit Sylvain Guintoli spoke about the huge crash after the race, and was concerned about how dangerous the passage of racing had been, and said that the type of crash was particularly worrying.

”These types of crashes can be very dangerous when you have parts of bikes flying around the way Alex Marquez crashed," Guintoli said.

”We really hope that there's nothing bad with Alex. Unfortunately, when you have odd crashes like this, when you have speed differences like this, this is where really serious things can happen, so fingers crossed. It’s one of those where you just hope for no bad news.”

Italian VR46 rider, and the race’s eventual winner, Fabio Di Giannantonio, was struck by a tyre from Marquez’s bike, and appeared to struggle with his left arm despite being able to claim success.

It was not the only big crash of the weekend, with a series of dramatic incidents taking place.

Johann Zarco was taken to hospital for an examination on his left leg after the restart led to another big crash and another red flag.

Jorge Martin collided with Raul Fernandez as they made contact going round a turn, meaning the former world champion suffered his fifth crash of a difficult race weekend for the Aprilia rider, and Acosta collided with Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura, who was given a three-second penalty as a result.

Speaking immediately after the race’s end, Guintoli’s colleague Neil Hodgson said that the compensation that riders received is justified by the dangerous job they take on throughout the season on the track.

Hodgson explained: ”That's been one messy GP. If you ever wonder why these guys get paid so much, if you watch the race today, you'll understand. 

”You've got a winner there who's clearly got an injury. His left arm has taken a big whack.”

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