Reflecting on the Spaniard's six premier class world championships.
On the back of Marc Marquez signing a two-year deal to join the Ducati Lenovo Team in 2025, we take a look at the Spaniard’s run of MotoGP world championships in this edition of Rewind.
With two world titles already under his belt in Moto3 and Moto2, plus graduating to the premier class with a factory seat at Repsol Honda, the start of Marquez’s MotoGP career was highly anticipated, with the then 20-year-old tipped as the next generational talent.
We wouldn’t know what was to come over the next decade, as his rookie campaign in 2013 saw him become the youngest MotoGP race winner in just his second outing at Circuit of the Americas, before he stormed to a further five victories and a total of 16 podiums across 18 rounds.
Image: Supplied.
Despite having a 39-point advantage over Jorge Lorenzo with four rounds to go, the title went down to the wire at Valencia’s season-finale, where his margin stood at just 13 points. Lorenzo did everything he could, although Marquez’s third place was enough for him to secure the championship in his rookie season, becoming the youngest ever to do so.
Winning a world championship is one thing, but backing it up the following year is a completely different challenge. A broken leg in the pre-season didn’t halt his momentum, as he went on an incredible 10-race winning streak.
The then-Honda rider suffered a number of crashes and mistakes in the back half of the year, but he had already done the hard work in the first 10 rounds and ultimately secured his second-straight MotoGP crown at Motegi with three rounds to spare.
After falling short of the title to Lorenzo in 2015, Marquez had a point to prove come 2016. He charged to five race wins and 12 total podiums to once again clinch the championship with three to go in Japan.
Image: Supplied.
It was the beginning of a golden era for the number 93, as he went on to claim titles in 2017, 2018, and 2019 to make it four straight, with the latter seeing him finish the year with a staggering 151-point advantage over Ducati-mounted Andrea Dovizioso.
Marquez signed a multi-year agreement with Honda that would take him through to the end of 2024, however a severely broken arm at the season opener would ultimately spell the end of an incredible title run and complete dominance. Remarkably, he attempted to line up at the following round just days after surgery, taking part in a single practice session before retiring from the grand prix.
It was a decision that almost cost him his career, sidelining him for the remainder of 2020 and the opening two rounds of 2021 – a season where he found himself on the ground more often than not before prematurely withdrawing from the series to get his troubled arm rectified.
Image: Supplied.
Following another injury-hit year in 2022, Marquez struggled to come to terms with the Honda RC213V in 2023 – as did all Honda riders – and he was sensationally granted a release from his factory HRC deal with a year remaining, ultimately joining younger brother Alex at Gresini Racing aboard Ducati machinery.
It’s been somewhat of a career-reviving move, with the 31-year-old once again competitive in 2024 despite adapting to a completely new motorcycle, scoring three podiums across the first seven rounds.
While we might not see his dominance of the last decade again, his promotion to the factory squad from 2025 and a ‘new lease on life’ with the Ducati Desmosedici GP motorcycle, it’s safe to say it isn’t the end for Marquez’s run at another MotoGP crown.
Recent
