Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez has a chance to win his eighth premier class title, and his 10th in Grand Prix racing, this year.
If he does so – and he is once again the overwhelming favourite – Marquez will overtake Valentino Rossi as the most successful rider of the modern era. In fact, one would have to go back to Giacomo Agostini in the 1960s and 70s for the last eight-time premier-class champion.
Marquez won the world championship in six of his first seven MotoGP seasons after making his debut with Honda in 2013. Complications from a 2020 arm injury then put his career at risk.
What would MotoGP have done without Marc Marquez?
But Marquez regained the crown last year after joining the Ducati factory team. While his title drought lasted six years, his comeback only enhances his legend.
Only Angel Nieto and Giacomo Agostini can compete with Marc Marquez
Speaking at Ducati’s 2026 launch this week, via Manuel Pecino’s YouTube channel, team manager Davide Tardozzi said he could count the number of Marquez-calibre riders in MotoGP history on one hand.
In fact, he believes only Agostini and Angel Nieto deserve to be placed in the same bracket.
Nieto won all of his titles in the lower classes but finished his career with 90 victories and 139 podiums.
Give us your MotoGP Mount Rushmore
“There are less than this hand in 75 years of racing like Marc,” Tardozzi said. “Maybe [because of] how he was clever and fast, Angel Nieto. Obviously, Agostini.”
Tardozzi wasn’t present at Ducati when Rossi raced for the team in 2011 and 2012, although The Doctor never won a race aboard the Desmosedici.
The one record that even Marc Marquez can’t break
Speaking in May last year, Alex Marquez picked Nieto as the greatest Spanish rider ever, rather than his brother. That highlights just how much he’s respected.
As for Agostini, Marquez could conceivably overtake him for top-level championships before he retires. He will turn 33 next month but is showing no signs of dropping off.
It’s almost certain, however, that Marquez won’t beat Agostini’s record of 15 Grand Prix titles. He would need another six to tie the benchmark and seven to surpass it.
Leslie Graham was almost 38 when he won the 1949 title, and he remains the oldest champion in the sport’s history.
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