Marc Marquez explains why he would ‘hate’ the Catalan Grand Prix if it wasn’t his home race

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Marc Marquez can edge one step closer to the 2025 MotoGP title at his home race at the Catalan Grand Prix this weekend.

The Ducati rider won his seventh consecutive race at Balaton Park last time out, giving him a 175-point lead over brother Alex Marquez. The Gresini rider has dropped valuable points in recent races, crashing at Brno and finishing 10th and 14th in Austria and Hungary respectively.

With his brother collecting win after win in Sprints and Grands Prix, Alex Marquez has admitted defeat in the race for the 2025 championship. It is possible that Marc Marquez could have it wrapped up by the next race at Misano, the home event of his nemesis Valentino Rossi.

The 32-year-old needs to outscore his brother by 47 points over the next two races to achieve the feat. But Marquez refused to comment on winning at Misano and at ‘Rossi’s home’, as he is more focused on simply claiming the title.

Marquez hopes to claim ‘match point’ in Japan or Indonesia, as winning the championship at Misano would mean that his brother had a bad weekend on home soil at Montmelo. The Spaniard wants to have a positive race at one of his ‘hardest’ tracks.

Marc Marquez would ‘hate’ the Catalan Grand Prix if it wasn’t his home race as it has ‘always been the hardest’

Speaking via Motorsport Espana, Marquez had a surprising admission about Montmelo, stating that he would ‘hate’ it if it was not his home race. He claims that he would have this circuit ‘marked in red’, but he is going into the 2025 race with an ‘open mind’.

He said: “I like Montmeló because it’s my home track, but I’d hate it if it wasn’t,” he said. “If the track were on the other side of the world, it would be the last one I’d go to.

“But since it’s my home race, it’s always a very special Grand Prix. It’s not that the circuit is ugly; on the contrary, it’s one of the most beautiful on the calendar, but it’s one of the ones that has always been the hardest for me.”

He added: “Barcelona is one of those weekends that, any other year, I would have marked in red as ‘we’re going to suffer,’ but this year I’m going in with an open mind to see how far we can go.”

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

How has Marc Marquez fared at the Catalan Grand Prix over the years?

Despite his feelings about the circuit, Marquez has enjoyed a lot of success at the Catalan Grand Prix. He won the race in 2014 and 2019 on his way to the championship in both seasons with Honda.

He has finished on the podium a further five times, but has also crashed twice in 2015 and 2021. He did not race at Montmelo in 2020 or 2022 due to complications with injury and his recovery.

Marquez finished third last year with Gresini and second in the Sprint race. With a streak of seven consecutive wins, or 14 if Sprints are included, he will be looking to keep the streak going on home soil.

Luigi Dall’Igna has ‘never’ seen anyone do what Marquez is doing at Ducati this season as he dominates the championship. The Borgo Panigale outfit are guaranteed to have another champion in 2025; it is just a matter of when that will be the case.