Marc Marquez ‘destroyed’ Jorge Martin’s season with one ‘really clever’ move at Ducati

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Ducati’s decision to promote Marc Marquez to a factory seat for the 2025 MotoGP season has paid off handsomely.

The Spaniard has embraced the culture within the team and is now in pursuit of a record-matching eighth MotoGP title. Entering the final year of his Ducati contract, there’s little doubt over what he will be doing in 2027 if he wants to continue racing.

Marquez has been dominant this season, but teammate Francesco Bagnaia is just starting to find his groove again. There’s a good chance that his ride won’t be anywhere near as easy in 2026, if the gains he has found are legitimate.

Mick Doohan ‘helped’ Marquez to revive his career, which looked to be over not long before he joined Gresini in 2024. Marquez has talent never ‘seen before’ and the way he has pushed through so many injuries to return to the top illustrates what a special character he is.

READ MORE: How ’emotional’ Honda staff privately reacted to Marc Marquez winning his seventh MotoGP title

Marc Marquez gave Ducati Jorge Martin ultimatum in 2024

Long before Marquez won the 2025 MotoGP championship, he had been planning his rise to the top once more. To get his current gig, he was in competition with 2024 champion Jorge Martin, who was much younger and boasted an impressive recent CV.

However, he showed enough to beat him to the role, and Peter Bom believes that it’s something that ended up ‘destroying’ Martin’s season.

“There’s something brilliant about that as well, last year,” he said. “I don’t know where it was, but at some point in the season, you obviously know exactly where it was. He knew he had shown enough to start something really, really clever, saying, ‘I want to be in the factory team or I leave Ducati.’

“That puts them immediately in that corner, and that destroys Jorge Martin’s year and maybe his career, from there on. That forced Jorge Martin to another manufacturer, and that’s where the whole s— began.

“It was like a double-sided swat that he used at that time. He forced himself into the factory team, and also making sure that the main problem, Jorge Martin, was not on the same bike for another year.”

READ MORE: Marc Marquez’s father recalls the moment he told him ‘I’m out of steam’ after winning seventh MotoGP title

Which MotoGP records Marc Marquez just beat after winning the 2025 title

After claiming a seventh title at Motegi on Sunday, Marquez set a few new records which are unlikely to be beaten for a long time.

Marquez is the oldest MotoGP champion after beating Rossi’s record (30) by two years (32). He also has the record for the longest time between titles (6 years).

Another feat he managed is the longest time between winning a first and last title (for the time being), which stands at 12 years.

The way he’s going, those records could be broken or extended in 2026. He just needs Ducati to give him a bike capable of just competing for the podium, and he’ll do the rest of the work.