Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez can replace his arch nemesis Valentino Rossi as the oldest rider to win a MotoGP title in 2025, adding to his record as the youngest premier class champion.
The Spaniard sits on match point heading to Motegi for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, with a mere three-point swing enough to secure the crown. Marc Marquez only has to leave Motegi with a 185-point advantage over his brother, Alex Marquez, who is currently 182 shy.
Due to the points on offer in the Motegi Sprint on Saturday, Sunday’s Japanese GP marks the earliest that Marc Marquez can win the 2025 MotoGP title. Gresini ace Alex Marquez cannot finish 2025 level on points and take the title due to his sibling’s 11 wins from 16 Grands Prix.
Should the 32-year-old Marquez brother outscore his 29-year-old sibling by three points at Motegi, Marc will eclipse Rossi as the oldest rider to win the title in the MotoGP era. But the Cervera native will not edge Leslie Graham as the oldest premier class champion of all time.
Marc Marquez will retire when he ‘realises’ there is a stronger rider, unlike Valentino Rossi
Marquez is set to win his seventh MotoGP title and equal Rossi’s career premier class haul at the age of 32 years and 223 days. Rossi won his last MotoGP title in 2009, at 30 years and 251 days. Marquez even became the youngest MotoGP champion with his first title in 2013.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
But while Rossi did not retire until after the 2021 MotoGP season, at which point he started racing in four-wheeled endurance series, Livio Suppo says Marquez will retire when he sees there is a rider “stronger than him”. Marquez will not stick around simply to race in MotoGP.
Suppo told GPOne: “When he realises that there will be someone stronger than him, he will stop. Marc races because he wants to win. If he doesn’t win, he doesn’t have fun.
“Valentino has gone on so long because he likes the idea of competing, [but] Marc is different. Either he wins, or he gets bored.”
Marc Marquez would have retired in 2024 if his move from Honda to Gresini backfired
Suppo knows what makes Marquez tick as he was the team principal of Honda from 2013 to 2017. Marquez replaced Casey Stoner at Honda in the 2013 MotoGP season and he won the title in his rookie season, before adding more titles to his collection in 2014, 2016 and 2017.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Valentino Rossi from stats to net worth
Marquez also won the 2018 and 2019 titles for Honda after Alberto Puig replaced Suppo at the helm. Now, the 2025 season is set to yield Marquez’s first title with a team other than Honda, having dominated since joining Ducati with 11 Grand Prix wins and 14 Sprint wins.
The Cervera native’s drive to win again is the only reason that he is still on the grid. Marquez admits he would have retired in 2024 if his first season aboard a year-old Ducati with Gresini did not pay off, having sought his route out of Honda to prove that he still had what it takes.
Rossi did not retire from MotoGP until after spending the 2021 season with a satellite team in Petronas Yamaha SRT. Despite the Italian not competing for a title since 2016, his love for competition kept him on the MotoGP grid until the age of 42 and he is still racing cars today.
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