Marco Bezzecchi
Many believe that being a Spanish rider opens up a lot of doors for you to make it to MotoGP. But Marc Marquez claims his countrymen now face a unique challenge.
Over the years, Spain has produced some of the greatest MotoGP riders of all time, with Marc Marquez being the most recent all-time great from the nation.
But because of this, there have been some criticisms levelled at MotoGP for being overly crowded by Spanish riders, feeling that talented riders from other countries don’t get much of a look.
Are there too many Spanish riders on the MotoGP grid?
With Ducati’s factory team set to pair Pedro Acosta and Marc Marquez next season, Claudio Domenicali responded to criticism towards the all-Spanish rider pairing.
But Marquez actually believes that being a Spanish rider with aspirations to make it to MotoGP actually poses more of a challenge than people might expect.
Marc Marquez suggests Spanish Moto2 riders face unique hurdle before MotoGP jump
At a sponsor event held by Insta360 and Orange España, YouTuber Gawl Bike got to briefly speak with Marc Marquez and ask a few questions.
While discussing the transition from Moto2 to MotoGP, Marquez suggested that Spanish riders are judged harsher than riders from other countries because of how prolific the riders from his country have been over the years.
“Making the jump from Moto2 to MotoGP depends on your nationality. If you’re Spanish, you have to do it really well. If that’s the case, because there are so many Spaniards, and in the end, they’re the most sought after.
“But the great ones, whether they’re Spanish, Italian, or even Chinese, it doesn’t matter; those are the ones who are great.”
While Marquez makes a salient point, to suggest that Spanish riders face a tougher obstacle because of their nationality is ludicrous, considering how many of them have made it to MotoGP over the years.
READ MORE: Giacomo Agostini predicts ‘Spain will be on fire’ when Pedro Acosta joins Marc Marquez at Ducati
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Marc Marquez explains how Moto2 helps separate talented riders before MotoGP jump
When asked about the importance of Moto2 preparing riders for MotoGP, Marquez suggested that the division allows the talented riders to be separated from those who benefit from good machinery.
“Look, for the young riders these days, with every bike using four-stroke engines, the real quality filter is Moto2. That’s the level that filters out who has talent and who doesn’t, who is hardworking, and who isn’t.
“Obviously, Moto3 is useful because you can see who has talent, has speed, and how they do it. But Moto2 is what separates the talented from those who aren’t.”
While Moto2 and Moto3 bikes differ greatly from MotoGP bikes, their being overseen by the same body allows these riders to get acclimatised to the conditions present in MotoGP before making the jump.
And while there are certain exceptions, it is well known that most MotoGP riders come from Moto2 or even Moto3, compared to other bike racing leagues like Superbike.
It makes all the sense in the world for MotoGP to have their own developmental and feeder leagues like many other sports around the world do.
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