Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez has put on a multitude of incredible performances on his way to 73 career victories in MotoGP, but the Spaniard has asserted that some of his best rides have come in races he didn’t stand on the top step of the podium.
The 19th of July 2020 will go down as one of the most pivotal moments in Marc Marquez’s MotoGP career.
During the season-opener of his sixth premier class title defence, disaster struck when #93 suffered a big crash at turn three, just four laps from the chequered flag.
Fill in the blank: Marc Marquez would have won _ titles without his arm injury
It would be the start of a three-year injury nightmare that would see Marquez sidelined for a total of 30 races in between various comebacks and surgery setbacks.
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Marc Marquez names the ‘best races’ of his MotoGP career
In a recent appearance on the Tengo un Plan podcast, Marquez was asked for his thoughts on what were some of the best performances of his 14-year career so far in the premier class.
The Spaniard identified two races: the 2018 Argentine Grand Prix, and the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix. The latter also happened to be the site of Marquez’s horrific highside that ruled him out of the entirety of the 2020 campaign and almost forced him into an early retirement.
“2019 was a very good year, but there are races I haven’t won that have been my best races,” the seven-time MotoGP world champion said. “Races where I felt better, I mean. One is Argentina 2018, and the other is Jerez 2020, when I got injured.”
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After being told that he looked like he was racing in a video game that day, Marquez added, “Absolutely. Jerez 2020 is one of my best races in terms of riding. And Argentina 2018, if I’m not mistaken, I was penalised.
“I did a ride-through, so it’s one of my best Grand Prix races in terms of driving, too. Then I had qualifying and finished 16th because I was penalised 40 times, but in a race like that it was deserved.
“Because I was going so wild, it was bad. I mean, I wouldn’t do it now. I’d handle it differently, but back then it worked out for me because there were a few who got angry in 2018.”
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Marc Marquez previously admitted to his ‘dangerous’ moves at the 2018 Argentine GP
In Mat Oxley’s latest biography on the factory Ducati star, Marquez recalled his ‘dangerous’ actions in Termas, highlighting that he has now learnt from his mistakes that day.
After stalling while lining up for the drop of the lights, the 33-year-old ignored the orders of the race officials by riding his bike in the opposite direction as he attempted to make a recovery to his original grid slot.
The ride-through penalty was the first of three for Marquez, who later received penalties for clashes with Aleix Espargaro and Valentino Rossi. He was slapped with a 30-second time penalty for the incident with his arch-nemesis, which relegated him to P18 in the final classification.
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow ended up taking his third and final premier class win thanks to Marquez’s inability to ride a clean race, with Johann Zarco and Alex Rins joining the British rider on the podium.
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