For Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 2015 was a tricky year. Favourite for the title at the start of the season, issues with the new RC213V and six DNF’s saw him finish 3rd in the Championship. On top of this was the breakdown in his relationship with Valentino Rossi that had grabbed so many headlines.
In 2016 a new ‘mature’ Marquez showed he had learnt the lessons of the previous season. Third place at the opening round in Qatar was followed up by a dominant victory in Argentina where he won by over seven seconds from Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) to take the lead in the championship standings.
He extended his advantage by making it back-to-back wins in Austin with another incredible performance on American soil as he beat Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) to the line by six seconds. Third in Jerez saw him head to Le Mans with a 17-point lead over his title rival Lorenzo, but in Spain his 100% podium record would come to an end. He crashed out of fourth place during the race, eventually managing to remount and cross the line in 13th.
This saw Lorenzo re-take the championship lead by the slender margin of five points. Everything was set for an awesome showdown at Mugello between Marquez and Lorenzo…and it didn’t disappoint with the two embroiled in a brilliant battle towards the end that saw Marquez just miss out on the race win by 19 thousandths of a second.
At the Catalan GP another excellent duel emerged, but this time with Rossi. Once again Marquez would come off second best, but with Lorenzo crashing out he returned to the top of the standings. After the tragic death of Luis Salom, the race in Barcelona also saw Marquez and Rossi bury the hatchet.
In a two-part wet race at Assen that saw most riders struggle, Marquez showed off his newfound maturity to cross the line in second and extend his championship lead over Lorenzo to 24 points, in what turn could turn out to be a pivotal result.
The Spaniard then followed this up by winning his seventh consecutive race at the Sachsenring from pole position after a tactical masterstroke. His rivals Rossi and Lorenzo could only finish in 8th and 15th respectively, which means Marquez heads into the summer break with a 48-point lead in the championship.