Marc Marquez became the youngest ever six-time World Champion after taking his fourth premier class crown in 2017. On the podium in his rookie 125 campaign in 2008, Marquez won that crown in 2010 before moving up to Moto2™ for 2011. After a tough start, the rider from Cervera went on an incredible winning spree and had closed the gap to Championship leader Stefan Bradl to a handful of points, before a crash in practice for the Malaysian GP saw Marquez forced to cede the fight and miss the two remaining races of the year. Problems with his vision in the off season saw surgery then finally fix the problem, and despite the shortened preparation for 2012 the Spaniard took the crown in stunning style by the Australian GP.
Replacing outgoing Casey Stoner in 2013 at the Repsol Honda Team, Marquez won his second ever MotoGP™ race and incredibly took the Championship in his rookie year. Then beginning 2014 with 10 wins in a row, Marquez won that crown in Motegi to successfully defend the title. Before 2015 proved more difficult with some mistakes and too many DNFs. Losing out to Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, Marquez began 2016 with a point to prove and took another incredible Championship title – redesigning his mentality and thinking about the long game as he put consistency at the top of the agenda. The reigning Champion then fought down to the wire against Andrea Dovizioso for the 2017 crown, with everything going down to the final round and Marquez - despite an incredible moment into Turn 1 - keeping it on the podium to break another record and take another title. He began 2018 as the reigning Champion once more and went on to make more history, taking nine wins and wrapping up the title in Japan - becoming the youngest ever seven-time World Champion. 2019 saw the number 93 take yet another step up, fighting off Dovizioso once more, as well as new rivals in Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo, with a series of tough last lap battles. After a season of only finishing second or better in every race - bar a DNF at the Circuit of the Americas - the Repsol Honda rider went on to make it Magic Number 8, needing just 15 rounds, getting the job done in Thailand.
Any hopes of another record breaking year were put on hold in 2020 however, as Marquez sustained an injury to his right humerus in the season opener in Jerez, which eventually ruled him out of the season. Thankfully, Marquez was able to return to action at Round 3 in Portimao in 2021. Slowly but surely, the number 93 regained speed and fitness and at the Sachsenring, he was back on the top step. A P2 in Aragon was followed by back-to-back victories in Austin and Misano, signalling Marquez was returning to some real form. However, a training accident caused the return of diplopia (double vision) that he suffered with in 2011. Marquez missed the last two rounds of the season and the issue struck again at the start of 2022 when he suffered one of the biggest crashes in premier class history in Indonesia. He returned at Austin but once again stepped away from the sport a few months later after the Italian GP to undergo a fourth, career-saving surgery on his right humerus. Returning for the final six rounds, Marquez clinched a first pole in three years at the Japanese Grand Prix and bagged his 100th premier class podium a fortnight later in Australia.
2023 started with a pole position and Sprint P3 in Portimao, but a Sunday crash involving Oliveira saw the #93 miss three races. The only Sunday podium came at a rain-drenched Japanese GP, but the following GP saw Marquez announce he would be leaving Honda at the end of the season. His new 2024 destination? Gresini Ducati. A mouth-watering prospect awaited and two Sprint podiums arrived in the first three races. In Jerez, following a stunning battle with Bagnaia, Marquez claimed his first Sunday podium with Ducati. Three more podiums followed pre-summer before a double victory weekend in Aragon saw Marquez return to the top step for the first time in 1043 days. Two more wins in San Marino and Australia saw the #93 end the season P3 in the Championship, as the eight-time Champion now hunts for title number nine while donning Ducati’s famous factory red alongside Pecco in 2025.