Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez is on the verge of winning the MotoGP championship and equalling Valentino Rossi’s haul. He only needs to outscore Alex Marquez by three points over the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.
There is some debate as to whether Marquez’s title should be classified as his seventh – accounting only for MotoGP – or his ninth, factoring in all classes. Whatever metric is used, he’s about to tie Rossi.
This is doubly significant. It’s been 10 years since the rivalry between Marquez and Rossi exploded, and the two legends still aren’t on speaking terms.
But as he explained in an interview with AS, Marquez also idolised Rossi when he was younger.
Marc Marquez finds it ‘hard to believe’ he’s about to tie Valentino Rossi
Marquez was ‘mesmerised’ by Rossi and Dani Pedrosa when he watched races as a youngster. He went on to partner Pedrosa at Honda.
Pedrosa was hampered by his slight build, but still managed to win 31 premier-class races. Marquez found this particularly inspiring.
But he finds it ‘hard to believe’ that he’s about to move level with Rossi, whom he ranks alongside Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto.
Marquez has been booed by Rossi fans this season but has tried to emphasise his respect for the Italian rather than stoking the fire.
“Various records of important names have already been equalled, and this is an honour, and equaling Valentino Rossi is another honour. I always said that, when I watched races, my idols were Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.
“They were two I looked up to and was mesmerised by. The reference? I’d always focused more on Pedrosa, because of his height, because I looked more like Dani when I was little and wanted to be like him.
“But equaling Rossi… He’s one of the big names, like when I’ve equalled Agostini or Nieto in other ways. You see names around you that are hard to believe.”
Marc Marquez explaining why winning a 10th title won’t be an ‘obsession’
After Rossi, Marquez can now target Agostini’s all-time record of eight premier-class titles, and look to move into double figures overall. But he says this won’t be an ‘obsession’.
“No. The tenth is possible, because it’s the next number. I’m speaking as if I take this title for granted.”
In Marquez’s eyes, returning from injury and winning again will remain his biggest achievement. He underwent four surgeries on a broken arm between 2020 and 2022.
“In the hypothetical case, I see it as possible,” he said. “Will it be an obsession? The obsession was to return from the operation. That did become an obsession, in the sense that, if it hadn’t been an obsession, I wouldn’t have returned. It was a daily obsession. I woke up every day thinking about recovering.
“That’s an obsession. I’m not going to wake up every day thinking about how to win the tenth, how to win the tenth. No. We’ll see.”
The second-oldest rider on the MotoGP grid, Marquez will only retire when he thinks he’s no longer the best, according to a former Honda colleague.
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