Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez delivered another dominant performance at the Italian Grand Prix and pulled even further clear at the top of the MotoGP standings.
The race for a record-breaking seventh title is on, and it looks as though there may only be one horse involved in it on Ducati’s dominant GP25 bike.
With the exception of two big mistakes, Marquez has been on the podium at every Grand Prix and set the benchmark for his rivals at most tracks.
Now they’re nearly halfway through the MotoGP season, time is running out for challengers to catch him and prevent him from becoming the oldest champion in the sport’s history at the age of 32.
Marquez can break Valentino Rossi’s oldest champion record by two years, which would be the icing on the cake of an incredible comeback from injury in 2020. To steal something like that from Rossi of all people would be special.
At the Italian Grand Prix, Marquez ‘kept telling’ himself to be patient and his new, more mature approach paid off handsomely. He waited for his rivals’ tyres to drop off and eased to the flag.
Marc Marquez emulated Valentino Rossi with one tactic at the Italian Grand Prix
Francesco Bagnaia showed ‘remarkable’ sportsmanship towards Marquez by shaking his hand ahead of the last event at Mugello, despite being beaten frequently by his teammate recently.
There’s no sign of any love lost between the two, which includes a brief interaction on the track where Marquez was seen ‘screwing’ Bagnaia – something Rossi used to do to his competitors too, according to Mat Oxley.
“They’re coming round on the slowing down lap, and Pecco rides up alongside Marquez and gives him a kind of joking, rude gesture. Just like waves at him and then moves close to him and pats him on the shoulder,” Oxley said on the Oxley Bom Podcast.
“Then they stop, and Bagnaia pats Marc on the shoulder. They’re side-by-side, stopped for their practice start. Bagnaia moves forward like a mature to get some clear space to do his start. Marc moves next to him again, like three inches away from his handlebar.
“So Pecco moves forward again another bike length, and Marc does it again. They come back after doing the practice start at Parc Ferme, and get off their bikes, and Marc comes up to Bagnaia and gives him a huge big hug,” he continued.
“The guy knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s screwing with everyone, but with a smile on his face. That’s what you do. Valentino Rossi was very good at that. It’s the grinning assassin.”
READ MORE: Marc Marquez sends message to Italian Grand Prix fans who booed him following Sprint win
The statistic which shows Marc Marquez is having one of his best MotoGP seasons ever
Marquez has won five of the opening nine races in a MotoGP season for just the fourth time in his career this season.
He also managed the feat back in 2014, 2017 and 2018, all of which were seasons that he went on to claim titles with Honda.
Realistically, he should have at least one more victory to show for, but his crash at the Grand Prix of Americas let him down.
It doesn’t look like anyone can catch him. Marquez admitted Alex is ‘essential’ to his training, but even his younger brother, who is second in the standings, doesn’t quite seem to have enough steam to overcome his talents.
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