Marc Márquez: Is the MotoGP legend ready for another title tilt?
09 May 2024Few can deny the talents of Marc Márquez when he’s wrestling a MotoGP bike around a track. When he made his debut in 2013, he introduced a riding style that changed the face of the sport and helped him en route to six titles in the premier class.
There’s little doubt, then, that he is one of the most talented MotoGP riders in the history of the sport, but in recent years he has looked a shadow of his former self. Dejected and despondent. A far cry from his record-beating 2019 form.
But in 2024, he is reinvigorated. Marc Márquez 2.0. Marc II. With the unpredictability of the Honda behind him, and the comparative stability of the Ducati underneath him, he looks like the Márquez of old.
What then, were the primary factors in his high-profile defection from the Japanese marque to a Ducati customer team, what can he achieve this season with Gresini and what do the coming seasons have in store for the six-time champion?
The Honda/Marc Márquez dream team unravels
Pride comes before a fall
From his rookie season in 2013 to his last championship-winning year in 2019, Márquez and Honda achieved unprecedented levels of success. The 2014 and 2019 seasons, in particular, were some of the finest title campaigns ever witnessed in MotoGP. In the former, he won the opening 10 races before snatching the premier class win record of 13 wins in a single season. In the latter, he won one less race but notched the single-season points (420) and podium (18) records instead.
A fall from grace
His dominant 2019 championship would be his last, though. The 2020 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix at Jerez would be the tor from which he faced a steep downward trajectory.
A monstrous highside late in the race sent Marc’s bike on a collision course with his right arm, resulting in a fractured right humerus. The complications of this particular injury persisted until the summer of 2022, when he underwent a fourth round of surgery to rotate the humerus back into its original position.
2021 & 2022
Marc returned from the disastrous injury at the earliest opportunity. Amazingly, that was over a year later at the third round of the 2021 season. Although the campaign didn’t go entirely to plan, there were signs that Marc’s other-worldly pace hadn’t completely evaporated during his absence.
The Spaniard notched three victories at the Circuit of the Americas and the Sachsenring – tracks where he is a serial winner – as well as at Imola, despite four mid-season DNFs and a concussion-inducing incident that put him out of action for the final two rounds.
The 2022 season was similarly mired by injury and surgery. A sole podium at Philip Island was the highlight but a sixth-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas – a track he’d been unbeatable at in all bar one visit of his MotoGP career – was cause for concern.
2023
The 2023 season heralded a tipping point for Márquez. The Honda was becoming increasingly volatile, and with 20 crashes across the season – two of which resulted in multi-race hiatuses – the time was coming to make a difficult decision.
At the opening race of the season at Portimao, Marc would sustain yet another injury, this time a hand fracture that put him out of action for the following three races.
Then, at the Sachsenring, Marc endured the nadir of his career. A venue at which he won for 10 consecutive years; he crashed on five occasions before the race had even begun. Rib and finger fractures did nothing but fan the flames of his inevitable departure.
In October of 2023, it was announced that Marc would leave the Honda team for a satellite Ducati ride. The news may not have come as a surprise, but it still sent shockwaves through the MotoGP paddock.
A new chapter with Ducati
Now partnering brother Alex Márquez aboard the Gresini Ducati, Marc has been presented with an opportunity to take a bike that is known to be fast and mount a title challenge in 2024.
READ MORE: Your 2024 rider line-up
Not as simple as it sounds
While a Ducati/Márquez team may sound like a guaranteed front-running combination, there are still some caveats to consider.
The army of extra engineers that come with a factory team can make all the difference when competition is as tight as it is in MotoGP. The manufacturer squads are just generally better prepared and that made a very noticeable impact in the title battle between Jorge Martín and Francesco Bagnaia last season.
But there is another factor to consider in all of this: Márquez himself. If anyone can overcome a deficit like that, it is the once-in-a-generation #93 rider.
Battling with Bagnaia
From the very first event, Marc has been in the mix. A pair of top-five finishes at Qatar might have been a steadier start than most were expecting, but from the second race in Portugal, it became evident that he could be a real contender.
A hard-fought second in the Sprint was followed up with a no-holds-barred battle with Bagnaia in the opening laps on Sunday’s Grand Prix. With three laps to go, the pair once again shared the same piece of racetrack and went into battle over fifth place. At Turn 5, they collided leaving Bagnaia to DNF and Márquez to limp home in 16th.
Now knowing the ‘rules of engagement’ with the reigning double champion, Márquez turned it up another notch in Austin where he once again finished second in the Sprint, before convincingly leading the Grand Prix. It was not to be, however. Marc crashed out of the lead, but before he did, he showed that he has the pace to run at the front in 2024.
Leading from pole in Jerez, Marc slipped back through the field in the middle stages of the race, but by the final handful of laps, he was in a position to launch an attack on Bagnaia. And he did just that. The pair battled lap after lap, but Márquez eventually conceded the position to finish a superb second.
Although there are still some kinks to be ironed out, Marc appears to be gearing up for a full-blown title assault in 2024. At just 32 points off the summit of the standings and with 17 events still to come, it’s all still to play for.
2025 and beyond
Marc’s move to Gresini may seem like a knee-jerk reaction to the underperforming Honda, but it was a highly calculated and strategic move. Think of it like a plaster. In 2024, he has access to the fastest bike on the MotoGP grid and without the commitments of a factory team, can fully dedicate himself to performing at his peak on track.
But in 2025, the rider market opens up considerably, and with a one-year Gresini deal, Marc has put himself in the driving seat to choose from a range of manufacturers, all desperate for his signature. The coming seasons hold a lot of promise for the six-time champion.
