Marco Bezzecchi
Jim Redman thought Marc Marquez was too crash-prone to race in MotoGP long-term, but soon realised he was a unique talent.
In 2011, while he was still a Moto2 rider, Marquez suffered a career-threatening accident at the Malaysian GP. The crash, which led to double vision, sidelined him for around five months.
He still managed to win the title in 2012 and earn a promotion to MotoGP, where he has notched 32 DNFs in 210 appearances. Marquez also missed 30 races between the start of 2020 and the end of 2023, largely due to complications from a severe arm injury.
Jim Redman says Marc Marquez seemed like a ‘daredevil’
Speaking to MARCA, two-time world champion Redman admitted that he judged Marquez too harshly at first. He had the ‘instinct’ to avoid crashes in situations where any other rider would have gone down.
Redman says this was most evident at the Sachsenring and COTA, circuits where Marquez has amassed a combined 15 victories in the premier class alone.
Marquez has effectively built crashing into his riding style, Redman explains, despite the evident risks involved.
He said: “I’ll tell you the truth: the first time I saw Marc Marquez, I thought he was a daredevil. He’d crash, crash again, and crash again. In my day, someone who crashed that much was either dead or retired. There was no third option.
Has Marc Marquez’s longevity in MotoGP surprised you?
“I saw him and thought, ‘This kid won’t last.’ But then I watched him more closely.
“Sachsenring: year after year, corner after corner. He enters too fast, the front end loses grip, the bike drops. For any other rider, it’s a crash, but Marquez catches it. With his elbow, with instinct, with something I have no words for. Not just once, but every single lap.
“I saw him at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Same pattern, same impossible riding. The bike fights with him in every corner. The tyres drop, the rear end slides, the front end collapses, and he’s still attacking.
“I sat and thought about every rider I’d ever seen. Marquez had it all. At the same time as the bike was trying to kill him, that’s when I understood: yes, he crashes, more than anyone in history, but that’s the point. He rides way beyond the limit and the crash is the price, the toll. He pays it and comes back every time.”
Why Jim Redman thinks Marc Marquez is the greatest of all time
At 94 years old, Redman has seen virtually every contender for motorcycle racing’s ‘greatest of all time’ mantle, and he thinks it belongs to Marquez.
He says the Spaniard, now a seven-time MotoGP champion, redefined what it means to take risks.
Marquez can surpass Valentino Rossi and equal Giacomo Agostini with an eighth top-level title this year, though he does find himself 36 points behind Marco Bezzecchi after the first three rounds.
“I spent my whole career thinking that greatness was about being on the edge, controlling the risk, surviving, but Marquez made me rethink everything. He didn’t stay on the edge, he didn’t survive it, he owned it.
“The other four riders are legends, each one changed this sport. But if you ask me at 94 years old, who is the greatest I’ve ever seen, there’s only one answer: the guy who made the impossible routine.”
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