Marc Marquez has done something at Spanish Grand Prix not seen since Valentino Rossi era

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Marc Marquez saw his 100% pole position record come to an end at the Spanish Grand Prix. But he still won Saturday’s Sprint in dominant fashion.

Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo stunned Ducati by pipping Marquez to pole in Jerez. The margin was just three-hundredths of a second.

Marquez had been on pole at every single event since he joined the factory Ducati squad for 2025. He inched ahead of Quartararo on the climb to turn one, but El Diablo steamed back down the inside.

Having managed to keep Marquez behind for the rest of the lap, he went down in desperation at turn four as the Desmosedici motorcycle stretched its legs in a straight line. Neil Hodgson says Quartararo will be ‘begging’ for a V4 engine after the overtake.

Marquez controlled the race with trademark ease from there, keeping his brother Alex at least a second behind at all times. Teammate Francesco Bagnaia finished third, the fourth time in five Sprints that the top three have finished in this order.

Marc Marquez is inspiring Spanish Grand Prix ‘crowd worship’ reminiscent of Valentino Rossi years

The crowd at Jerez is widely regarded as one of the loudest and most passionate in MotoGP. But coming into this weekend, they hadn’t seen a home winner since 2019.

Marquez sustained a serious injury here in 2020, when the race was behind closed doors, and that saw his run of dominance come to an end. Quartararo and Miller picked up Spanish Grand Prix victories before Bagnaia rattled off three in a row.

After a stirring podium for Gresini in 2024, Marquez is now back on a dominant factory bike. After winning the Sprint, he and his brother Alex conducted the fans on the embankment.

Isle of Man TT winner Mat Oxley noted on X that this was ‘the first time we’ve seen this level of hero ownership since VR’. Valentino Rossi has been billed the ‘Michael Jordan of motorcycles’, and only he and Marquez can inspire this kind of reaction from a crowd.

Alex Rins’ choice in MotoGP GOAT debate may not age well

While Quartararo will have another shot at starting from pole on Sunday, there was nothing in the Sprint to suggest he can hold off Marquez. The Ant of Cervera is the overwhelming favourite to secure what would be a 66th premier-class win.

That would put him just two behind Giacomo Agostini, second on the all-time list. After that, Rossi will be in his sights.

The gap is currently 24, but given the scale of Ducati’s dominance, that could be wiped out by the end of next year. Alex Rins picked Rossi as the GOAT in an interview this weekend, but the headline statistics may soon start to favour Marquez.

Rossi’s entourage are concerned Marquez will break his records at Luigi Dall’Igna’s team. The Doctor is in attendance this weekend with his VR46 team, having also been present in Qatar.