Marc Marquez showed admiration for Casey Stoner with behind-the-scenes request when he first joined Honda

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Casey Stoner passed the baton to Marc Marquez when he retired from Grand Prix racing. As one legend stepped away, another was born.

Stoner, a two-time world champion, sits sixth on the all-time MotoGP wins list with 38. He’s in the top five for poles (39) and the top eight for podiums (69).

These statistics are even more impressive when one considers that he only made 115 starts. For reference, that’s as many as Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, and only four more than Francesco Bagnaia.

He won the title in just his second premier-class season with Ducati (2007) and was runner-up the following year. The Australian later joined Honda in 2011 and immediately regained the championship trophy.

He was still in the top three when he bowed out in 2012 at the age of 27, but he publicly admitted he was no longer enjoying racing. Moto2 champion Marquez was a ready-made successor.

Marc Marquez pored over Casey Stoner’s data when he arrived at Honda

Speaking on the Motorsport Repubblica podcast, Scott Redding said Marquez was similar to Stoner in his approach. This was no coincidence.

Redding has heard that Marquez proactively sought out Stoner’s data when he joined Honda so he could emulate his style. A rider will typically ‘pick their guy’ to study before riding a new motorcycle.

Stoner wasn’t afraid of falling if it meant he could find the true limit of a bike. And Marquez is characterised by that same fearlessness, having had the second-most crashes of any rider in a largely outstanding 2024 season.

“There’s a documentary on Stoner on YouTube,” Redding said. “They were talking about when he was in 250s and he was on an old bike and he was just crashing the brains out of it. He refuses for it not to work. He’d just crash, but he’d get faster – crash, faster, crash, faster.

“Marc is the same sort of guy. That’s why watching those two battle would be insane. Marc learned from Casey. Marc looked at all of Casey’s data.

“When you go to a team or manufacturer, you pick your guy. You want to see a bit of what he’s doing. From what I heard, he was like ‘Stoner, Stoner, Stoner’. You see Marc, he rides like Stoner.”

Ricard Jove predicts where Marc Marquez would be on this year’s Honda

Davide Tardozzi has previously criticised Marquez for taking too many risks, but it’s impossible to argue with his record. He’s the overwhelming favourite to win what would be a seventh premier-class title this year.

The Ant of Cervera has established a 17-point lead over his brother Alex by winning three of the first four Grands Prix and all four Sprints. The combination of the grid’s most successful rider and (by far) its best bike is producing predictable results.

However, Ricard Jove reckons Marquez would be leading the championship on a Honda too. His former team have improved this year, with Johann Zarco the lead non-Ducati in the standings (P6).

The RC231V, statistically the second-best bike on the grid, has yet to score a podium. But based on his teammate’s historical performances, Marquez didn’t necessarily need best-in-class machinery to win titles.