Ducati rival shares what Marc Marquez’s dominance at 32 says about ‘the level of the riders’ in MotoGP

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Marc Marquez is on course to have the MotoGP world championship wrapped up with multiple rounds to spare. His perfect weekend at Assen, combined with his brother’s DNF, puts him 68 points clear at the top.

On average, Marquez is increasing his advantage by 6.8 points per weekend. If that continues, he would be crowned as the champion at Phillip Island on 19 October.

The Spaniard has won nine out of 10 Sprints this year, and six out of 10 Grands Prix. In Austin and Jerez, he was likely on course for victory had he not fallen.

For the most part, only Marquez has been able to beat Marquez this season. And with the regulations remaining stagnant for next year, there could be more of the same to follow.

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Motorsport journalist Oriol Puigdemont spoke with a ‘top management figure’ at one of Ducati’s rivals in the Dutch Grand Prix paddock. They claimed that Marquez is ‘even more dominant’ now than he was before his injury.

The Ant of Cervera won six championships in seven seasons between his 2013 debut and 2019. His final Honda title was his most emphatic of all as he led nearest challenger Andrea Dovizioso by 151 points.

Marquez’s double world champion teammate, Francesco Bagnaia, has trailed him in 16 of the 18 races both riders have finished. 2021 victor Fabio Quartararo has beaten Marquez to pole four times but invariably fallen away in the races, while title holder Jorge Martin has largely been injured at Aprilia.

Puigdemont said on the Tank Slappers podcast: “We spoke with a top management figure in the paddock in Assen, not from Ducati, and this person was telling us, ‘Don’t you get it? What’s happening now is telling us that the level of the riders in the championship is stacked.

“You have a rider having his MotoGP debut 12 years ago being dominant for a period of time, being injured for three and a half years, coming back and being even more dominant than he was in the past. It just gives us an idea about the dimension of this monster.”

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Marquez tied Giacomo Agostini in the Netherlands with a 68th premier-class win. Valentino Rossi is his sole remaining target on 89.

More importantly, Marquez is trying to equal Rossi’s record of seven championships, or nine overall. Some would argue that the sport, which has just been acquired by Liberty Media, is missing their rivalry.

The combination of Ducati’s imperious motorcycle – they have scored 25 out of a possible 30 podiums – and an all-time great rider has proven unstoppable. A rival manufacturer may have to emerge, because Marquez appears to have his internal opponents covered.

While he’s made the team his own, Jorge Lorenzo says Ducati won’t become overly reliant on Marquez. They’ve learned from Honda in that respect after his 2023 exit left a destabilising void.