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Written by Nina Rogerson
1043 days after his last Grand Prix victory, Marc Marquez took the chequered flag in Aragon after a dominating weekend making him a Ducati winner at last.
Marquez topped both sessions on Friday, set an all-time lap record, clenched pole position, won the sprint and then eventually, took the victory on Sunday. It’s safe to say after this Grand Prix, Marc Marquez is back.
Although Marquez had a dominating weekend in Aragon, it hasn’t been easy for the 8-time world champion in the last few years. We’re taking a look at this chapter of the Marc Marquez story to take you through the journey to this Grand Prix victory.
Jerez 2020
Image via motogp.com
This story starts way back in 2020, at the first round of the COVID-19 shortened season. MotoGP was back in Jerez in July after a delayed start to the season due to the global pandemic.
Marquez started P3 on the grid, made a great start to the race and, by Lap 4 he was leading the pack. The Spaniard started pulling a gap before pushing just that little bit too hard and taking his Honda straight into the gravel.
Marquez managed to keep the bike upright and was able to rejoin the race back in 16th. The Honda rider fought hard to get back to the front of the pack and with just eight laps to go, he was up to 5th place.
Marquez was able to push to join the scrap for third place which he took from Jack Miller. So, with four laps to go Marquez could see second place and he wanted it. In his attempt to overtake Vinales for P2, Marquez suffered a huge crash that sent him tumbling into the gravel. It was evident from the scenes of the crash and footage of Marquez getting out of the gravel, that he had done some serious damage to his right arm.
At the time of this Grand Prix, we knew that Marquez had hurt himself, but no one could have ever predicted how the next few years would look for the Spaniard.
MotoGP returned to Jerez just one weekend later for the 2nd Grand Prix of the 2020 season and Marquez announced that just days after undergoing surgery, he would attempt to take part in the race weekend.
Marquez returned to the track on the Saturday, less than 7 days after breaking his arm. But, after struggling with Time Attacks, Marc made the decision to withdraw from the GP and continue his recovery.
Image via @marcmarquez93 on Instagram
August 2020
Marquez undergoes a second operation on the right arm to replace the titanium plate that was used to repair his initial break. The original titanium plate was taken out and replaced with a new one.
This surgery officially took Marc out of the 2020 season, with eyes set on a 2021 return.
December 2020
Repsol Honda announced that Marquez had gone under the knife once again for a third surgery on the right humorous. The previous surgeries Marquez had on his arm meant that the humorous was not repairing itself, so a bone graft was required to ensure proper healing.
Image via @marcmarquez93 on Instagram
April 2021
Marc Marquez finally returns to MotoGP action at the third round of the season in Portimão. He returns to MotoGP with a seventh place after 9 months of no racing.
June 2021
Marquez returns to winning ways at the Sachsenring. All signs point to the King of the Ring being back in business…
Image via autosport.com
October 2021
Marquez has another run of good results with a victory in his beloved Circuit of the Americas and then a victory in Misano (the victory that would go on to be his last for a long time).
However, things went downhill just a few days after the Misano victory. Marc has a training accident where he hits his head and suffers a concussion. This concussion would trigger a recurrence of the double-vision (diplopia) problems that cost him the Moto2 title in 2011. This ruled him out of the end of the season.
March 2022
The 2022 season kicked off in Qatar and despite the ongoing problems with the Honda, Marquez finished 5th in the opening round.
The most visible problem with the Honda was that it was prone to throwing its riders off. This proved to be another problem for Marquez as in the warm-up session for the Indonesian Grand Prix, he was thrown into the gravel at high speeds. Not only did this leave the Spaniard battered and bruised, but it once again triggered another episode of diplopia. The 8-time world champion was once again forced to sit out of two Grand Prix’s in order to recover.
Image via foxsports.com
May 2022
At the Italian Grand Prix, Marquez made an announcement that he would undergo a fourth surgery on the right arm. This time, he would travel to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to have his arm broken and rotated 30 degrees back into shape to allow it to heal properly.
Image via GPone.com
Another surgery meant more time away from the championship and this time it was another six races that he would miss. Marquez would return in September at the Aragon GP and except for a podium in Philip Island, the end of the season would be mediocre for the Spaniard.
March 2023
The start of the 2023 season looked gloomy for Marquez. With a disappointing Valencia test with the new Honda, Marquez remarked “with this bike, we can’t win the championship”.
At the first round of the 2023 season, Marc takes P2 in the sprint but in the Sunday race, he has a collision with Miguel Oliveira that results in both riders coming away injured. The injury Marquez suffered to his hand took him out of the following three races.
June 2023
The 2023 German Grand Prix can be seen as the weekend where Marquez decided to leave Honda. With five crashes throughout the weekend, and Marc deciding to pull the plug on the whole weekend after the warm-up, it was a long way from the previous German GPs we’d seen Marquez do so well at. The frustration that Marc was experiencing towards his bike was clearly evident.
Image via bikesportnews.com
October 2023
With rumours circulating that Marquez is leaving Repsol Honda, the paddock is buzzing with the prospect of seeing such a massive rider market move.
On the 4th of October, Marquez announces that he will leave his beloved Repsol Honda at the end of the 2023 season. Eight days after this announcement, it’s confirmed that for the 2024 season, Marquez will join his younger brother at Gresini Ducati.
November 28th, 2023
It’s the Tuesday after the final round of the season and all anyone can talk about is that Marc Marquez will be jumping on a Ducati for the first time. Since 2011, we’ve only ever seen him in Repsol Honda colours, so this is a monumental day.
Image via crash.net
After his first run on the GP23, Marquez was all smiles in the Gresini box and it was clear from this moment that we’d be in for a pretty good 2024 season…
April 2024
Marc Marquez claims his first Grand Prix podium for Ducati in Jerez after an epic battle with Francesco Bagnaia. Marquez starts the season with a strong run of sprint podiums and grand prix podiums and it’s clear to everyone that the win is coming.
September 1st, 2024
After 1043 days, Marc Marquez returns to the top step of the podium in dominating fashion at the Aragon GP.
Image via motorsport.com
It was an emotional return to victory for the Spaniard and it opens up the possibility for even more victories for the rest of the season. Moreso, it puts forward the question of what Marc will be able to do when he moves up to the Factory Ducati team next season…
The excitement continues this weekend in Misano, will Marquez continue his winning feeling, or will Bagnaia be back for vengeance at his home circuit?
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