Tag: Marc Marquez

11 in a row, eight in MotoGP™, 30 laps, 25 points and 581 days: an emotional return to the top step sees the eight-time World Champion remain unbeaten in Germany

Sachsenring, 20 June 2021: 581 days ago, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) stood atop the MotoGP podium in Valencia. It was a normal Sunday for the eight-time World Champion, another notch in an ever-increasing roll call of history made and victories earned. There was no Covid-19, the grandstands were full and always had been, and the number 93 was on top of the world. Three surgeries, nearly a season on the sidelines and a whole different world later, Marquez is back on top of that rostrum – and he did it in style. Taking over at the front early on and then putting the hammer down even as rain threatened, the number 93 withstood ever-increasing pressure from Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) to take his 11th win in a row at the Sachsenring, which is also his eighth in a row at the venue in the premier class. 30 laps leading to 25 points, prefaced by 581 days.

Marc Marquez: “It’s one of the most important and hardest moments of my career, today I knew it was a great opportunity, the mentality wasn’t easy because I’m coming from a hard situation with three 0s in a row but I said today is the day. Before this weekend I thought I’d fight for the podium and try and be close with the top guys. The victory was a low possibility but I said if it’s perfect conditions, I’ll try. When I saw a few raindrops on Lap 4 or 5, I said ‘it’s my race’. At that point I pushed and kept the same pace as before, when the second stop started I pushed even more, and I said, ‘ok it’s time to take a risk’. I took it in those laps, then the second race started with Miguel. He pushed a lot, but it was really hard to keep concentrating, all the memories from the last year were there in my mind. But we did it, and we’ll do it again.”

Coming back to the race, Oliveira pushed as much as he could but makes it three podiums in a row as he comes closer than most ever have – or will – to taking the throne from the King of the Ring, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) increasing his Championship lead in third place.

It was Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who took the holeshot from the off though, with Marquez blasting through into second and standing Quartararo up as the number 93 made it immediately clear he’d be racing to win in Germany. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) then struck against Quartararo too as El Diablo initially lost out a little, with one man doing the opposite: Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The South African stormed up from P13 to seventh on Lap 1.

By the end of said Lap 1, there was another move further ahead as Marquez struck for the lead at the final corner. Past the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro there and staying ahead into Turn 1, it was a statement of intent but the number 93 couldn’t shake him off just yet. Next time around the two went toe-to-toe again, but Marquez retained that lead… and then began to grow it as the white flag came out.

The Sachsenring is no stranger to spots of rain, and as a few began to fall the flag showed that riders could, if they so chose, come in to change bikes. Marquez’ reaction to that, as Aleix Espargaro dropped back, was to push even more – and sure enough, the bravery paid off with a nice cushion leaving him with some breathing space at the front.

Meanwhile, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Oliveira had made their way past Quartararo and then Zarco before also slicing through on Aleix Espargaro. By a third of the race run, Oliveira struck against Miller too, the Portuguese rider taking over in second and inheriting the task of trying to chase down Marc Marquez at the Sachsenring. But boy, did he try.

Two seconds became 1.9 became 1.8, with the KTM rider in the groove as he tried to haul in every meter possible on a charge for the front. Chipping away a tenth here and a tenth there, it seemed to be a matter of time, surely, before the Portuguese rider caught up? The gap was steadfastly going one way: down.

With only a handful of laps to go, it looked like game on. From hovering at 1.2 to suddenly only nine tenths, Oliveira showcased more great racecraft to back up his stunner in Barcelona. But Marquez wouldn’t be fazed. It went back up over a second as the eight-time World Champion responded and then, suddenly, that seemed it was it: one more tenth, then a few more, and suddenly the Honda had a second and a half in hand once again. Now, all that was left was to bring it home.

That Marquez did, with a nod of his head to the Repsol Honda Team waiting on pit wall as he secured that incredible eighth premier class win in a row at the Sachsenring. An achievement that would have made headlines alone, if not for 581 days and career-endangering injury in between his trips to the top step of the MotoGP™ podium. Tears, cheers and some serious emotion poured out as one of the truly great comebacks saw the eight-time World Champion wrap up another premier class victory.

Oliveira, after calling time on his charge, came home in second for yet another podium – his third in a row – ahead of Quartararo as the Frenchman made up some previously lost ground to round out the rostrum. Just behind him, Brad Binder came home fourth to make it an even better day for KTM.

Fifth place went to a Ducati, but not the early scene stealers. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was near the end of the points on Lap 1, the Italian seemingly out of the fight for the front. But he made steady and impressive progress to eventually pip teammate Jack Miller to the final place in the top five, the Aussie forced to settled for sixth. Also seemingly somewhat forced to settle were Aleix Espargaro in P7 and, in the end, Zarco down in eighth, losing some ground to Quartararo in the standings.

Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) likewise made an early charge into the top ten, but the reigning Champion’s challenge bottomed out before he could attack any further forward, the number 36 taking home ninth although just two tenths behind Zarco. A little further off that duel, Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) completed the top ten.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), despite his injury struggles, came home in P11 and just fought off the attention of the likewise-returning Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing). The number 89 was top rookie at the Ring and took some solid points after earlier fighting further forward. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemutsu) was 13th ahead of Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT), the Doctor taking two points. Completing those points was Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia) as he beat fellow rookie and teammate Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) to P15 by a tenth.

There are a few usual frontrunners missing from that list. After a difficult qualifying, Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) had their day go from bad to worse at the start as they were running last. It didn’t get better from there either, with both staying on but coming home as the final two finishers split by a few tenths. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) also failed to score after they crashed out together, and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) slid out.

That’s it from the Sachsenring and a history-making Sunday. Only Marc Marquez will likely ever know how it feels, what it cost or the true work behind being able to return to the top step of a Grand Prix podium. 30 laps likely felt like a long time this afternoon, but 581 days will have seemed like a lifetime.

Join us again next weekend for another showdown as the TT Circuit Assen welcomes MotoGP™ back to the Netherlands. 

1 Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda – 41:07.243 2 Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM – +1.610 3 Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +6.722 Top Independent Team rider 7 Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia – +9.371

Portimao (Portugal), 13 April, 2021 : It has finally happened: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has been given the green light to get back on his RC213V this weekend at the Autódromo Internacional del Algarve. The Grande Prémio 888 de Portugal, the third round of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship, will no doubt go down in history as the moment the eight-time World Champion stepped back into the spotlight after nine months away.

It’s a moment that has been highly anticipated by MotoGP fans around the world but also by lovers of sport. It evokes memories of other great sporting heroes making their return after battling against serious, sometimes career-threatening, injuries. All of whom would return to the absolute pinnacle of their sport, as Marquez will seek to replicate.

Marc’s return can be compared to that of other former premier class riders, such as MotoGP legend Mick Doohan. The Australian nearly lost his right leg in 1992, after a serious crash at Assen that led to a dangerous infection. A spectacular recovery, missing just four races, would see him try to clinch the title in the final two rounds in Brazil and South Africa. It sadly wasn’t enough, with the crown going to Wayne Rainey by just four points. Despite the fact that he could not manage to clinch the title that year, he would go on to conquer premier class racing for the remainder of the decade, taking an incredible five titles from 1994 to 1998.

If we look beyond MotoGP™, the examples are numerous. In motorsport in particular, we have some iconic comebacks. First and foremost, we must remember the late, great Niki Lauda and his ability to recover from the injuries sustained after an accident at the 1976 F1 German Grand Prix. Despite receiving serious burns in the horror crash, he would return to the fray just 6 weeks later; a true hero. He was runner-up that year but would win his second title a year later before then taking his final world crown in 1984. We must also remember Michael Schumacher’s accident at the 1999 British GP, in which he fractured his leg and would miss the next six races. He would return stronger than ever, though, winning the world title from 2000 to 2004 in an iconic partnership with Ferrari.

Alex Zanardi is another inspiring sporting comeback. In 2001, he suffered a terrible accident at EuroSpeedway Lausitz whereby he lost both legs. His grit, determination and reluctance to take the news lying down is inspiring to many. He would compete again just two years later in Touring Cars, adding victories in following years, although his greatest reward would come in the form of medals at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Another example would be the return of Poland’s Robert Kubica. A serious accident during a rally on Italian soil in 2011 almost cost him the amputation of his right hand. He would recover, however, to return to competing at the pinnacle of rallying, before then making his long-awaited return to F1 in 2019.

In the world of football, we’ve seen some of the sport’s greatest players return from major injuries, such as Ronaldo Nazario and Diego Maradona. The former overcame a number of serious knee injuries, one of which was just before the 2002 World Cup – a competition he helped his country win for a record fifth time. In the case of the late, great Maradona, the famous Argentinian number 10 overcame a serious ankle injury while playing for FC Barcelona. Rather than claiming accident and fall injury compensation, he went onto win the World Cup in Mexico 1986, and eight years later, Maradona would star in the 1994 World Cup in the USA. Two of football’s most treasured athletes.

Next we’ll come to basketball and world-famous superstar Michael Jordan had to return to the court following numerous injury setbacks. More recently, we can’t forget the late, great Kobe Bryant’s Achilles comeback. The ‘Black Mamba’ scored two free throws for the LA Lakers in the 2013 playoffs, before heading off the changing room as nearly a year away from the courts faced him. Bryant didn’t throw in the towel though, at 35 years of age, Bryant showed his prowess and returned as competitive as ever to post unbelievable statistics in his last two seasons with the Lakers.  

Tennis has also seen its fair share of major injury comebacks. The three most successful male players of all time – Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic – have all been hit by injury during their illustrious careers. However, the story of Monica Seles is one to tell. In 1993 at just 19-years-old, she amazed the world by winning her eighth Grand Slam title, three years on from becoming the youngest-ever French Open winner at 16. However, in 1993, she was a victim of an on-court attack after a man stabbed her in the back. Understandably, it was something that saw Seles unable to return to the court for two years, but she did come back to win her fourth Australian Open in 1996 – her ninth Grand Slam. In addition, she claimed bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and helped the US Team to win the Federation Cup three times.

Tiger Woods’ victory at The Masters is one of the great sporting comebacks. Suffering from long term back problems, the American became the oldest golfer to win The Masters since 1986. This was his fifth Masters title and 15th major overall. Fellow American Payton Manning, NFL’s legendary Quarterback, saw his time with the Indianapolis Colts end in 2011 after neck problems saw him go under the knife four times. He signed with the Denver Broncos, with whom he would play his last four seasons as a professional, saying goodbye in style with his second Super Bowl title in 2015.

The story of cycling’s Greg LeMond is also famous. A year after winning the Tour de France in 1986, LeMond suffered a hunting accident in California that saw him get shot in the back. Nearly costing him his life, the incident ruined his 1987 campaign and the following year saw a fresh injury arise. However, LeMond returned and won the 1989 and 1990 Tour de France races.

As we can see, we’ve witnessed some incredible sporting comebacks. We now wait and see what Marc Marquez can do after nine months on the sidelines. Three surgeries and a painful time away from the motorcycle, the number 93 is ready to compete again in 2021.

Action from MOTO GP Grande Prémio 888 de Portugal Main Race will be LIVE on EUROSPORT and EUROSPORT HD from 15:30 Hrs (03:30 pm IST) onwards on Sunday, 18^th April 2021. The same will be live streamed on discovery + app.

Barcelona, 17 March 2021: The Repsol Honda Team rider continued to evaluate his physical condition with a day riding the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit on the Honda RC213V-S.

Just a few days after his medical team confirmed the progress made by Marc Marquez, the eight-time World Champion was back on track. First using a mini-bike close to his home in Cervera, Marquez has now completed a day of riding at the Montmelo circuit on the RC213V-S to understand his physical condition after eight months away from the track.