There are some things on a motorcycle that just can’t physically be achieved, unless you’re Marc Márquez of course.
The flying Spaniard’s abilities leave even his rivals speechless, especially when almost every race weekend he defies the laws of gravity on two wheels.
From the moment he was first discovered, it was evidently clear he would be a multiple World Champion, but nobody could have predicted just how good he was going to be.
And if criteria for the best of all time were decided on records, Marc Márquez would win hands down.
In just one decade since he first debuted, the Spanish young gun has broken just about every record in his path, and still continues to do so today.
He already has seven World Titles, five of which are in the premier Moto GP class, and is one of four riders to have won the world championship in three different categories, after Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Valentino Rossi.
A Brief History of Marc Márquez
Born in 1993 on the 17th February in Cervera, Catalonia, Spain, Mac Márquez made his championship debut on 13th April 2008 at the 125cc 2008 Portuguese Grand Prix at the age of 15 years and 56 days.
In 2009, as a factory KTM rider, at the French Grand Prix he achieved his first pole position at the age of 16 years and 89 days.
He also took pole for the 2010 Spanish Grand Prix but the exhaust pipe fell off on the opening lap and went under the rear wheel, causing Márquez to crash and injure his shoulder.
Taste of Success In Motorbike Racing!
His first win didn’t come until the 6th June 2010 at Mugello, but he backed this up with further victories at Silverstone, Assen and Catalonia in the next three races, making him the youngest ever rider to win four successive races.
His fifth win in succession at the Sachsenring made him the first rider since Valentino Rossi in 1997 to win five consecutive races in 125cc racing.
He was less successful in the following races, dropping to third in the standings to find himself one point behind Nicolás Terol and Pol Espargaró.
But four successive wins from Motegi onwards moved Márquez into a 17-point lead over Terol with only one round to go.
At Estoril, the race was red-flagged due to rain with Márquez running second to Terol. When returning to the grid for the second race, Márquez fell on the sighting lap and had to return to the pits.
After some quick repairs, he started at the back of the field having not made it out of pit lane in time.
Despite this, Márquez amazingly recovered to win the race and extend his lead in the process, all this just before the Valencia finale. His tenth victory of the season moved him to within one of equalling the record set by Rossi in 1997.
He fell short of the record after finishing fourth at the final race, but he did become the second-youngest World Champion after Loris Capirossi.
Moto2 Championship Winning!
The following year in 2011 Márquez moved into the Moto2 class – the first of an expected two-year deal as the sole rider of the new team Monlau Competición, run by his manager Emilio Alzamora.
The very next year Marc won the Moto2 championship title after a season-long battle with fellow Spanish rider Pol Espargaró; a third-place finish for Márquez at the Australian Grand Prix.
Despite a win for Espargaró, was enough to give him his second World Title before moving into the premier class for the 2013 season.
And the race that probably stood out the most in his Moto2 career was his very last one at Valencia.
Despite starting from 33rd on the grid, his performance, which involved overtaking 20 bikes on the first lap alone, became the biggest comeback in the sport’s history.
He finished the season with nine race wins, setting a record for the class that still stands.
Youngest Ever MotoGP Motorbike Race Winner
It was now 2013 everyone was looking forward to, especially after the announcement earlier that year on the 12th July that Márquez had signed a two-year contract with the Repsol Honda team in MotoGP.
He would be replacing the retiring Casey Stoner and joining teammate Dani Pedrosa.
Márquez first tested the Honda RC213V in Valencia after the conclusion of the 2012 season, lapping just over a second slower than his teammate and compatriot Dani Pedrosa, who topped the time sheets.
Márquez was again impressive during the first official MotoGP testing at Sepang where he finished the first two days of testing in third position just behind Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.
Márquez also carried out a race simulation during the closing stages of the session with his timings proving quite consistent, which was phenomenal for a rookie.
He continued his impressive form in the private test of Honda at Austin where he topped the timesheets all three days, showing that the Spanish young gun was ready for the big league.
As expected, it didn’t’ take long for Márquez to make an impact, finishing with a podium at the first race in Qatar.
At the second round of the championship at the new Circuit of the Americas in Texas, Márquez beat his teammate Dani Pedrosa and became the first ever winner at the new track.
In doing so he also became the youngest ever MotoGP race winner at 20 years and 63 days, beating Freddie Spencer’s 30-year-old record.
Of course the rest is history as Márquez went on to secure his first Moto GP World Title, and all on his first crack at the big time, notching up another record in the process by becoming the first rider since Kenny Roberts in 1978 to win the title in his first season, and also the youngest ever.
‘Thunder From Cervera’ Breaking Records
It was clearly evident Marc Márquez had left the racing world in shock by what he achieved in his first year in Moto GP, but little did they know there was more to come – a lot more.
In 2014 there’s no better way of saying it, but the ‘Thunder from Cervera’ absolutely annihilated his fellow competitors by taking victory in the first ten races of the season, becoming only the third rider to achieve such a feat after legend Australian racer Mick Doohan and Italian superstar Giacomo Agostini.
This of course sealed his second World Championship, but astonishingly, there were more records to come.
At Sepang, Márquez broke Stoner’s record with his 13th pole position of the season and his 50th Grand Prix pole position overall.
He took his 12th win of the year, matching Mick Doohan’s 1997 record of most premier class victories in a single season.
Márquez’ result was also good enough for Honda to claim the manufacturers’ championship, with a race to spare. And then at the final race in Valencia, Márquez broke Doohan’s record, with his 13th win of the season.
Unstoppable Success with MotoGP
His following year was marred by crashes and mechanical issues, and wasn’t one for the record books, even though he still finished a gallant second in the World Championship to Jorge Lorenzo.
The next season was a different story though, and would mark the return of Márquez to the top when he clinched his third Moto GP title and fifth world title overall at Motegi, Japan.
Fittingly Márquez’ team created a t-shirt with the logo ‘Give Me Five’ to celebrate his fifth world title overall.
In 2017 Márquez was again a dominant force, and just missed out on sealing the title in Malaysia.
Here he finished fourth while Andrea Dovizioso won, meaning the battle for top spot would go down to the last round in Valencia.
Márquez started the race from pole, but narrowly avoided crashing after yet another gravity defying and dramatic save at turn one, dropping from 1st to 5th position.
However, moments later Dovizioso crashed at turn eight, immediately handing Márquez his sixth World Title.
Once again scribed his name in the record books as the youngest ever rider to achieve such a feat.
As expected, Márquez dominated the 2018 season, and in spite of the closest time margins in the Moto GP field ever, he increased his number of race wins compared to the previous two championship seasons.
Márquez ended up closing the deal after three successive hard-fought wins in duels with Dovizioso at Aragon, Thailand and Japan, which all played out in similar fashion.
Dovizioso led early in the race, until Márquez made successful late passes and held the Italian rider off.
In Japan, Dovizioso fell on the penultimate lap trying to catch Márquez to attempt a re-pass, which left him without points and sealed Márquez’ title.
With three rounds to spare, Márquez sealed a third title in a row and reached his fifth overall Moto GP title, the first rider to do so since Valentino Rossi won five in a row in the early 2000s.
But it’s not the records that make Márquez stand out from the rest, it’s what he does on two wheels to achieve those records.
Often considered as one of the greatest innovators of modern MotoGP racing due to his amazing cornering technique of leaning so far over he seems to defy gravity, made even more impressive by his size, which unlike his heart is diminutive.
His team even had to add ballast to his bikes to compensate for his lack of weight.
Hence his worldly nickname the ‘Ant of Cervera’, used as the obvious comparison to the insect that has the strength to carry 100 times its body weight – which can be seen on various pairs of his gloves, helmets and his team pit board.
The Spanish Rocket of Motorcycle Race Continues
Another interesting fact is that although Márquez has won several world championships, he’s always opted to remain with his number 93 instead of taking the number 1 – which represents the year he was born.
And family means a lot him, which is clearly reflected in the fact that his father Julià follows him around the world in his team garage and is a permanent fixture in the Grand Prix paddock.
His younger brother Álex Márquez is also a motorcycle racing world champion, having won the Moto3 class in 2014.
The duo actually became the first pair of brothers to win road racing world championships in the same season.
So what will this year hold for the Spanish rocket – well, there’s a strong chance another World Title beckons, especially after his already dominant start to the 2019 season.
Like every year, it seems he’s picked up where he left off – which is leaving his opponents in his dust. Who knows, he might even surpass Agostini’s seemingly untouchable 15 World Titles – he is only 26.
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