Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez is on the cusp of securing his seventh MotoGP title and ninth world championship in Grand Prix motorcycle racing at the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix.
Marquez has been utterly dominant during his maiden season with the factory Ducati team in the premier class, building up a 182-point lead over his brother, Alex Marquez, in the riders’ standings ahead of the 17th round of the season at Motegi.
Marquez needs to outscore the Gresini rider by three points over the course of the weekend to be crowned in Japan, at the same track where he has previously been coronated as the champion three times.
However, leading up to Marquez’s first chance of clinching the 2025 title, a new motion was put in place by MotoGP bosses to discount Moto3 and Moto2 titles from being included in the conversation of Grand Prix world championships.
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MotoGP legend Giacomo Agostini thinks MotoGP’s disregard of Moto2 and Moto3 titles is ‘impossible’
Many within the world of Grand Prix motorcycle racing have expressed their ire at the move, with legendary premier class rider Giacomo Agostini being the latest figure to voice their frustrations.
Speaking to MOW, the 15-time world champion, who would be considered as an eight-time world champion following the ruling, said, “This whole thing about the world championships being taken away and only those won in the 500cc or MotoGP class being counted is impossible.
“I think the Federation itself, if it were true, would intervene forcefully, preventing it. Whether they’ll want to give more visibility to those won in the premier class is another matter entirely.
“So, for me, Marc Marquez will soon deservedly win his ninth and not his seventh, just as Valentino Rossi has nine, Nieto 12+1, Hailwood nine, and so on.”
Following feats in the 125cc and Moto2 categories in 2010 and 2012, respectively, Marquez would be considered a seven-time world champion once he is crowned for his exploits in the current campaign, with the previous world titles being seemingly redacted from the history books.
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Giacomo Agostini thinks discounting Moto2 and Moto3 titles will hinder the development of young riders
The move comes after a long list of changes that the new owners of MotoGP are attempting to enforce on the sport in hopes of replicating the growth they achieved in Formula 1.
Liberty Media are also looking into expanding the MotoGP calendar, which would make it unsustainable for the lower categories to appear at every single race weekend.
In his conversation with MOW, Agostini also touched upon the damaging effects that the new rulings will have on the lower classes of Grand Prix racing, adding, “Moto2 or Moto3, just like the 125 and 250 or the smaller and intermediate categories of my time, have never simply been a sideshow to the races that really mattered.
“They shone on their own and thrived on their own strength, and we can’t forget, especially in modern motorcycling, that the greatest champions have also been those who won titles in 125 or 250, Moto3, or Moto2. Or both 125 and 250, or both Moto3 and Moto2.
“Ghettoising the smaller categories, taking away their visibility and adequate space, would mean bringing inexperienced riders into MotoGP, who have never before competed in anything similar, and within the same environment, as the so-called premier class.”
Amusingly, Marquez’s fifth MotoGP title was met with celebrations that featured t-shirts highlighting that the Ant of Cervera had secured his seventh world title. Marquez may be donning the exact same t-shirt once he is crowned as the 2025 MotoGP champion.
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