Marco Bezzecchi
Scott Redding graduated to MotoGP in 2014, just a year after Marc Marquez. He’d raced against the Spaniard in the junior categories.
The two riders competed in the midfield at 125cc level, and it was Redding who graduated to Moto2 first in 2010. However, Marquez took a leap in 2011, finishing runner-up behind Stefan Bradl.
He won the championship the following season, with Redding finishing fifth. That earned the Ant of Cervera a spot in the premier class, and he immediately won the world championship.
Redding arrived in 2014 on satellite Honda machinery. He would later ride Ducati and Aprilia bikes but didn’t manage to win a race before dropping off the grid at the end of 2018.
The Englishman had to settle for two podiums, with Marquez present on both occasions. He finished third at the 2015 San Marino Grand Prix, a result he repeated at the 2016 Dutch TT.
Scott Redding was delighted for Marc Marquez after he joined Ducati
Speaking on the Motorsport Republica podcast, Redding called Marquez’s latter days at Honda ‘painful’. He tried to drag the Japanese manufacturer back to the top after breaking his arm in 2020.
In the midst of multiple surgeries, Marquez managed three victories and occasional podiums, but even he couldn’t arrest the team’s decline. At the end of 2023, he took the bombshell decision to leave in favour of a satellite Ducati ride at Gresini.
Marquez is prepared to take fewer risks, and he can afford to be more cautious now that he’s riding best-in-class factory-spec machinery. Redding thought he was in an unfair position at Honda where he had to push the bike beyond its limits.
After his move, his former rival sent him an excited text message. Redding assured him that he’d ‘love’ his experience at the Bologna outfit.
“I’m so happy he jumped ship,” he said. “You can see how painful it was for him. He’s relentless.
“That’s why he had those massive crashes. He didn’t care. He wants to win that badly he will do that every weekend. That’s the mentality. I just thought ‘it’s not fair on you’.
“When he signed a Ducati contract, I messaged him and I was like ‘bro, I’m so happy, you are going to absolutely love it’.”
Ducati engineers privately said one thing about Marc Marquez before he left Gresini
Marquez’s mother assured him everything would ‘work out’ back in 2020. There were surely times along the way when he doubted whether he’d ever win a MotoGP title again.
But now the 32-year-old is the overwhelming favourite for the 2025 crown. Marquez would become MotoGP’s oldest champion, surpassing Valentino Rossi.
Marquez has surprised Ducati ‘insiders’ by making a Rossi-esque impact since his arrival. Francesco Bagnaia faces perhaps the toughest task of any rider this year as he tries to halt his charge.
Last season, he was able to keep the six-time champion at bay because he had a superior bike. But in private, Ducati engineers said the GP23 was significantly slower, so it was already ominous that Marquez was able to pick up three victories at Gresini.
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