Marc Marquez told he has now ‘answered’ the only ‘question’ that matters since joining Ducati

Add as preferred source on Google

Marc Marquez is now only one MotoGP title away from matching Giacomo Agostini’s all-time premier class record eight after securing the 2025 championship with Ducati.

The 32-year-old won the 2025 MotoGP title in dominant fashion with five rounds to spare in September and matched bitter rival Valentino Rossi as a seven-time premier class champion. Marquez was simply in a different league during his first campaign riding for Ducati this year.

Before Marquez sustained a season-ending shoulder injury in Indonesia, he scored 11 Grand Prix and 14 Sprint Race wins, 32 combined podiums and eight pole positions. Despite having to miss the past three rounds, the Spaniard also still tops the riders’ standings by 100 points.

He is also now the most successful rider during the MotoGP era so far, as Agostini won eight 500cc titles and Rossi won the first of his seven premier class titles in the last 500cc season. Marquez also won the MotoGP title for Honda during the 2013, ‘14, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18 and ‘19 terms.

Marc Marquez proved he can return to the standards set before his injury at Jerez in 2020

Marquez won the 2025 MotoGP title in Japan after leaving Motegi in round 17 of 22 leading his brother, Gresini’s Alex Marquez, by 201 points. It is the earliest that a title has been won by round, but Rossi’s 2002 MotoGP title remains the record by per cent of a season at 75%.

READ MORE: Marc Marquez is the oldest MotoGP champion but not in premier class history

Neil Hodgson believes Marquez winning the 2025 MotoGP title after 77.2% of the term also “answered” the only question he faced upon joining Ducati, of whether or not the Spaniard could return to the levels seen before sustaining a career-threatening injury at Jerez in 2020.

Hodgson has told TNT Sports: “Looking back to 2019, the year before his big injury, that was such a strong year for him. I would say that he matched that this year, and so we would have to say that Marc is now back to his absolute best.

“He answered the question that was being asked this season, which was not whether he would win again after his injury, but whether he could match his previous standards. And he really has.

“From that moment in 2020 to this season, we needed to find out if the sport had fundamentally changed, and if the other, younger riders coming through had found something new.

“We needed to know if the sport had changed too much for Marc, and the answer is a resounding no. His level is still far, far better than anyone else’s.”

Marc Marquez had no rival at Ducati in 2025 like he did not with Honda in 2019

Marquez dominated the MotoGP field in 2019 when he won his sixth premier class title with Honda by 151 points over Ducati racer Andrea Dovizioso. His winning margin over the Italian was also all the more impressive as MotoGP did not run its inaugural Sprint Race until 2023.

Additionally, Marquez won 12 of the 19 Grands Prix, made 18 podiums and scored 10 poles through the 2019 MotoGP season. The Cervera native only failed to reach the rostrum after crashing from the lead in America, for his only DNF of 2019 and only result worse than a P2.

While Marquez did not match the consistency of securing P1 or P2 in every race he finished during the 2025 MotoGP season with Ducati like he did with Honda in 2019, his dominance once settled in at Borgo Panigale featured seven-straight doubles from round eight until 14.

In total, Marquez achieved 10 Grand Prix and Sprint Race doubles during his first term with Ducati. He did not finish off the Grand Prix podium between round six at Le Mans and 17 in Japan, too. He did not finish off the Sprint podium until he crashed at Misano in round 16.