Honda engineers once saw clear evidence that Marc Marquez was frightened on their bike, ‘that left a mark’

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Marc Marquez comes into the 2025 Grand Prix of Italy off a perfect weekend at Aragon, claiming pole position and the win in the Sprint and main race.

It has been a dominant season for the Spaniard with Ducati, having grabbed 11 wins from a possible 16 thus far. Marquez is 32 points ahead of brother Alex Marquez in the standings heading into Mugello this weekend.

The 32-year-old has been almost unstoppable in 2025, with two crashes in Austin and Jerez denying him further victories. Marquez can become utterly ‘unbeatable’ if he can perfect right-hand corners, says his crew chief Marco Rigamonti.

That area has been a struggle for the Ducati rider since he broke his arm in a crash at Jerez in 2020. He has been slowly improving his craft through right-handers over the years, with Neil Hodgson noticing Marquez was more comfortable than ever at Aragon.

The six-time MotoGP champion will look to continue his form at the Italian Grand Prix. However, Mugello has not been too kind to Marquez in the past, dating back to his first race there with Honda in 2013.

Honda engineers saw that Marc Marquez was frightened on their bike after his 2013 crash at Mugello ‘left a mark’

Marquez broke records with Honda in his debut MotoGP season, becoming the youngest champion in 2013. The then-20-year-old claimed six wins and 16 podiums on his way to his first title and suffered just one retirement; that came at Mugello.

The Honda rider suffered a nasty-looking accident as he lost the bike on the grass and slid across the gravel trap at high speed, leaving him with a bruised chin. While Marquez would go on to win the title, journalist David Emmett recalled how the crash ‘left a mark’ on his psyche.

“The turn one crash, the biggest one was Marc Marquez, where he appeared on the grid with a massive swollen jaw, his helmet having ingested an awful lot of gravel after he literally jumped off at 320k,” he said via the Paddock Pass Podcast.

“It was 2013, it was his first year, because I interviewed him maybe a year later or two years later about going there and in 2014, he was saying like Santi [Hernandez] was telling him: ‘You’re rolling off over the crest’.

“He says: ‘I’m not. I’m flat out over there’, and then he showed him the data and he could see he was rolling off. He wasn’t even aware that he was rolling off.

“That left a mark that one, it left a mark of his psyche for a little while. It took him a year or so to actually start to get back to his normal antics over there.”

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend

Marc Marquez may face his biggest threat from Francesco Bagnaia at Ducati in Mugello

Mugello is not Marquez’s strongest track, having won there only once in MotoGP and suffering four retirements. His Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia, however, has a great track record on home soil.

The 28-year-old has won the last three events and come into the 2025 race 93 points behind Marquez after a difficult start to the year. But after the Aragon GP and subsequent test, Bagnaia may have found the answer to his problems.

Bagnaia’s new brake discs have finally given him the feeling from the front of the bike that he has complained about all season. The Italian is more confident than ever on the GP25, with Mugello being a perfect opportunity to close the gap to Marquez.

Marquez and Bagnaia are fighting ‘an internal war’ over new parts for their bikes. As tension begins to brew at Ducati, the latter will be keen to take advantage.