Neil Hodgson couldn’t believe what he saw from Marc Marquez in first MotoGP title decider, ‘like he didn’t care’

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Marc Marquez went into the 2013 Valencian Grand Prix with a shot at becoming MotoGP’s youngest-ever champion. He was looking to crown a phenomenal rookie season.

Marquez sent a warning shot to Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo with a debut podium at the Qatar GP. His first win arrived at the very next round in Austin.

He wouldn’t stand on the top step of the podium again until the German GP in July, but that sparked a run of four in a row. Yamaha’s Lorenzo then hit back by winning four of the next six, and capitalising on Marquez’s Australia disqualification, to close within 13 points before the finale.

Marquez needed to finish in the top four to seal the championship on home soil. He delivered a gutsy pole position on the Saturday, with Lorenzo and teammate Dani Pedrosa joining him on the front row.

The Ant of Cervera lost the lead at the start but exercised caution thereafter. While Lorenzo won the race, Marquez’s third-place finish was enough to seal a historic title by four points.

Neil Hodgson was stunned that Marc Marquez showed no sign of pressure at 2013 Valencia GP

Speaking during TNT Sports‘ coverage of FP1 at Jerez last weekend, Neil Hodgson reminisced about Marquez’s first title. He expected the 20-year-old to be riddled with nerves heading to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Instead, ‘it was like he didn’t care’ as he kept the title battle firmly under control. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Marquez’s debut season was his consistency as he scored 16 podiums in 18 races.

Hodgson says Marquez has retained this resistance to pressure throughout his career. He can’t recall a single instance where he’s ‘bottled it’.

“Maximum pressure doesn’t seem to bother him,” he said. “Do you know what was incredible? His first season in MotoGP, obviously he won the world championship that year, he went to the last round and it was tight.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, he’s going to go to Valencia with all that pressure on him to become the youngest ever MotoGP world champion’. I remember watching it and just thinking he was super cool. It was like he didn’t care, which is so hard to do when you’re under that sort of pressure.

“He’s never bottled it in his life, has he? That’s why you don’t want him as your teammate, that’s why you don’t want to race against him.”

Could Marc Marquez have joined another manufacturer over Ducati?

12 years on, Marquez is looking to become the oldest MotoGP champion ever, replacing Valentino Rossi. He’s one point behind his brother Alex in the standings after the first five rounds.

Marquez continues to take more risks than his rivals, just as he did when he was young. He’s rapid, but unpredictable.

The combination of an all-time great bike and an all-time great rider should deliver the logical result. Marquez Jr may be ahead for now, but even he doesn’t expect to keep pace all season.

It’s now emerged that former KTM boss Francesco Guidotti wanted to pursue Marquez or Jorge Martin, rather than Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini. But they were always unlikely to stand a chance up against Ducati.