Why Moto2 marshals complained about Marc Marquez’s riding during his title-winning season

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Marc Marquez proved he was a special talent even before graduating to MotoGP. After cruelly losing out on the 2011 Moto2 title, he made amends in 2012.

Marquez was battling Stefan Bradl for the intermediate class championship in his first year when he crashed at the Malaysian GP. He wasn’t able to take part in the race and had to withdraw from the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix too.

But the following year, he flattened the competition. He won nine out of 17 races, beating Pol Espargaro by almost 60 points.

Marquez showcased incredible consistency by scoring a podium in all but one of the races he finished. A move to the Honda factory team for 2013 was announced midway through the season, but that didn’t affect his motivation.

Marc Marquez silenced marshals with Moto2 overtaking exhibition in Valencia

Earlier this season, Motorsport.com interviewed some of Marquez’s colleagues, past and present. They were asked to name what they saw as his greatest race.

Carlos Linan, who was a mechanic for Marquez at Honda, chose a Moto2 race rather than one of his many MotoGP masterpieces.

Marquez was demoted to the back of the grid in Valencia after botching an attempted overtake on FTR’s Simone Corsi through turn 10 in practice. The resulting collision knocked Corsi from his bike, and after complaints from marshals, it was deemed irresponsible and dangerous.

But Marquez took this as a challenge. He rallied from 33rd place to win the race, dispatching more than 20 competitors on the opening lap and executing several overtakes through the very same corner.

“I remember, for me, the most exciting victory for Marc was in Valencia, Moto2,” Linan said. “He got a penalty because the organisation of the marshals complained to him.

“They said it was impossible to pass Corsi in this corner. After that, he overtook everybody in the corner to show them that it was possible.”

Marc Marquez’s ‘incredible’ Moto2 debut after pre-season injury

Jordi Castella, who also worked on Marquez’s bike at Honda, also looked back to 2012. His preparations for the season were severely disrupted as he underwent eye surgery following that Sepang crash.

And yet, Marquez won the season opener in Qatar. He would beat Andrea Iannone to the finish line by less than a tenth of a second.

• READ MORE: Marc Marquez once showed he was an ‘incredible character’ with his reaction to MotoGP disqualification

“For me, the most incredible victory was the first race in Qatar in Moto2 in 2012, after his eye injury,” said Castella. “With no pre-season, with no testing, we went straight to Qatar, and he won the race. It was incredible.”

12 months after the aforementioned Valencia race, Marquez won his maiden MotoGP title at the same venue. He left pundits in awe with not only his hypersonic speed, but also his composure as a rookie.