On Sunday afternoon at the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, we were treated to another mesmerising Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) comeback.
From P9 on the grid, the eight-time World Champion dropped to last place after he encountered an issue when trying to launch off the line. From there on, it was all about trying to salvage the best result possible for the seven-time Circuit of The Americas winner. And salvage he did. Marquez took the chequered flag in a phenomenal P6 in his first race since the opening night in Qatar, having missed the Indonesian and Argentina GPs through injury.
Marquez had the pace to challenge for victory in Austin. Unfortunately, we’ll never know if he could have beaten the eventual race winner and current World Championship leader Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) if the start hadn’t gone wrong, but what an outstanding ride it was anyway. And it’s something we’ve seen the famous number 93 do before – Marquez and fantastic comebacks go hand in hand.
So, we’ve collected some of the most memorable comebacks Marquez has achieved throughout his glistening career. Take a look below:
Portugal 2010 (125cc) - 17th to 1st
A phenomenal 125cc contest at Estoril saw the original race red-flagged, Championship leader Marquez restart from the back of the grid after crashing on the sighting lap and then ride to victory ahead of title rival Nico Terol.
- ESTORIL 2010 125CC RACE HIGHLIGHTS
Australia 2011 (Moto2™) - 38th to 3rd
A grid penalty wasn't enough to stop Marquez from carving his way through the pack as he claimed a podium behind race winner Alex de Angelis and eventual Moto2™ World Champion Stefan Bradl.
- PHILLIP ISLAND 2011 Moto2™ FULL RACE
Japan 2012 (Moto2™) - 29th to 1st
After stalling on the grid, Marquez had to fight his way through the field to take an eighth win of the season to boost his Moto2™ title charge.
- ONBOARD SPECIAL – MARQUEZ’S FIRST LAP AT THE 2012 JAPANESE GP
Valencia 2012 (Moto2™) - 33rd to 1st
In a race that started wet, Marquez rode a phenomenal race at the season finale as he charged his way to victory from last on the grid ahead of Julian Simon and Nico Terol to sign off his Championship winning campaign in style.
- RACE HIGHLIGHTS – 2012 VALENCIA Moto2™ RACE
France 2014 (MotoGP™) - 10th to 1st
Doing it the hard way, Marquez kept up his 100% record to the start of the campaign despite an opening lap error which dropped him down the field.
Netherlands 2021 (MotoGP™) - 20th to 7th
Marquez was unstoppable off the line as he jumped up the order when the lights went out, ending lap one in 12th after starting down in 20th on the grid. Within just three laps Marquez had made up a total of ten positions as he attached himself to the group at the front and settled in for the race.
- ONBOARD – MARQUEZ GAINS EIGHT PLACES ON OPENING LAP
Americas 2022 (MotoGP™)- 24th to 6th
A tech issue on Marquez' RC213V saw the eight-time World Champion fall to the bottom of the grid by the first corner, before he began to show the world why he is so often the King of COTA.
- MUST-WATCH: MARQUEZ’S ROLLERCOASTER RIDE ON THE RODEO