Marc Márquez
Updated: Wikipedia source
Marc Márquez Alentà (born 17 February 1993) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who races for the Ducati Lenovo Team. He previously raced for Honda's factory team from 2013 to 2023, and for the Ducati satellite team Gresini in 2024. Widely considered one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time, he has won nine Grand Prix World Championships, including seven in the MotoGP class (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2025). As a teenager, Márquez won the 125cc World Championship in 2010, and the Moto2 World Championship in 2012. He moved into the MotoGP class in 2013 to ride for Repsol Honda. He won the title on his debut, becoming the first rider since Kenny Roberts in 1978 to win the premier class title in his rookie season, and the youngest to win it overall, at 20 years and 266 days. He received the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year following that season. In 2014 Márquez defended his title dominantly, winning the first ten races of the season back-to-back. Márquez was ruled out of championship contention early in 2015 due to a series of crashes, with the season overshadowed by his tumultuous feud with Valentino Rossi. In 2016, at the age of 23, Márquez equalled the all-time Grand Prix record for pole positions. He secured a further four consecutive championships in 2016, 2017, 2018, and a particularly dominant 2019. He became the youngest rider to win his seventh and eighth Grand Prix championships. At the delayed 2020 season-opener in Jerez, Márquez crashed and broke his right arm. A premature attempt to return to competition further damaged the arm, and he sat out most of the season due to three surgeries. The injury continued to plague Márquez in 2021, and despite winning races in Germany, Austin, and Misano, he finished the season seventh. Márquez underwent a more successful fourth surgery on his arm at the Mayo Clinic in 2022. Struggling with an increasingly adrift RC213V, Márquez severed his four-year contract with Honda in 2023 and joined the satellite Gresini Ducati team for 2024. Márquez won his first race for 1,043 days in Aragon with Gresini, and claimed further wins in Misano and Phillip Island. He finished the championship in third place and negotiated a factory Ducati contract for 2025. In 2025, Márquez finally recovered full form. After winning 11 races and 14 sprint races, he clinched the championship with 5 rounds to spare at Motegi. His six-year drought between titles was the longest in history, and at 32 he became the oldest rider to win the premier class title in the four-stroke era. His younger brother Álex Márquez was runner-up, making them the first siblings to place first and second in the premier class. Márquez's 2025 season was rated by his peers as one of the greatest sporting comebacks of all time.