MotoGP doctor relieved Marc Marquez has stopped doing one thing, it was ‘madness’

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Marc Marquez suffered the second-most falls of any MotoGP rider in 2024. Only rookie Pedro Acosta (28) surpassed his tally of 24.

Crucially, though, Marquez only recorded two DNFs during the season. He made fewer errors in big moments.

The Spaniard crashed out of the Grand Prix of the Americas from the lead, but he put this down to a loss of front brake pressure. There was also a dramatic collision between Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia in Portugal, though the former was able to remount and finish the race in 16th.

Thereafter, Marquez finished 11 Grands Prix in a row, only for a mechanical retirement in Indonesia to break his streak. Still, if he can maintain that consistency in 2025, he’ll be well-placed in his anticipated title fight with his Ducati teammate.

Bagnaia was left ruing his mistakes over the winter after losing out on the title to Jorge Martin. Several high-profile errors cost him even though he won 11 races to the Pramac rider’s three.

Dr Claudio Costa glad Marc Marquez has changed his ‘crazy’ MotoGP approach

Marquez is a six-time world champion in the premier class. He’s clearly in the conversation for the greatest rider of all time.

But he’s also developed a crash-happy reputation. This was exacerbated by Honda’s struggles at the start of the decade, with Marquez perhaps guilty of overriding in his efforts to compensate.

Now that the number 93 rider is on a dominant motorcycle, he doesn’t have to push so hard. Speaking to Men on Wheels, renowned MotoGP doctor Claudio Costa welcomed the change in his approach.

Costa says that the period after Marquez’s crash at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix altered his perspective. It’s forced him to ‘put the reins on his madness’.

“Marquez has always been attracted by the temptation to always go beyond,” he said. “To always seek beyond. Unfortunately, this meant that he often encountered falls and injuries.

“He was a completely Dionysian horse, almost crazy in his way of being a pilot. Then, however, he encountered terrible years that metaphorically bled him dry in terms of suffering for the fear of no longer being able to race.

“He was able to transform that wound into a window from which to look at a new reality. In short, Marc Marquez has put the reins on his madness.”

Marc Marquez reveals what he’s learned about taking risks in MotoGP

Marquez can become the oldest world champion of the MotoGP era this year at 32. He’d break the record set by a 30-year-old Valentino Rossi in 2009.

The Ant of Cervera needs to tap into that experience this season. Even with his injury absences, he’s completed at least nine more races than any other rider on the grid (189 vs 180 for nearest challenger Maverick Vinales).

Marquez has realised that he only needs to take risks for ‘five or six laps’ during a race. Those are the moments where the outcome is decided.

Aside from that, he can afford to be cautious and prioritise staying in the fight. He already looks like the strong favourite for the Thailand Grand Prix after a mightily impressive performance at the Buriram Test.