The greatest comeback in motorsport reaches its climax as the #93 seals a seventh crown: #MoreThanANumber
For much of 2025, the question has not been if Marc Marquez would be crowned champion again, but when. That answer came at Motegi. With a measured second-place finish at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, the legendary Spaniard officially secured the MotoGP World Championship — his seventh premier-class crown and first since 2019.
It has been 2,184 days since Marquez last lifted the title, a drought enforced not by lack of speed, but by relentless injury battles, surgery, and setbacks that would have ended most riders’ careers. Yet the #93 never gave up. Now, after six years of perseverance, he has written one of the most remarkable comeback stories in sport.
But who is the man behind the visor? And how did he once dominate MotoGP with six titles in seven seasons, before enduring the longest road back to glory in premier-class history?
From Cervera to Champion: The Early Years
Born in Cervera, Spain in 1993 — the inspiration behind his famous race number — Marc Marquez showed promise almost as soon as he could ride. His rise through the ranks was rapid: the 125cc World Championship in 2010, followed by the Moto2 crown in 2012, marked him as a star in the making.
The Repsol Honda Team took the gamble to promote him straight into MotoGP in 2013, and Marquez immediately delivered. A podium on debut, a victory in only his second start, and then the unthinkable: at 20 years old, he became the youngest ever MotoGP champion and the first rookie to claim the crown in 35 years. His daring “elbow down” riding style redefined the way bikes could be pushed to the limit.
That was just the beginning.
Domination: 2014–2019
The seasons that followed cemented Marquez as one of the sport’s all-time greats. In 2014 he won the first ten races of the year on his way to back-to-back titles.
2015 was more turbulent — costly mistakes and a high-profile clash with Valentino Rossi at Sepang turned the season into one of the most dramatic in history. Jorge Lorenzo eventually walked away with the crown, leaving Marquez to reset.
Reset he did. 2016, 2017, and 2018 saw him rise again, with unforgettable duels against Andrea Dovizioso and others that defined an era. Then came 2019, arguably his finest campaign: 12 wins in 19 races, 18 podiums, and 420 points— numbers that put him in a class of his own. Marquez looked untouchable, the undisputed king of MotoGP.
But then came Jerez, 2020. And everything changed.
Injury Hell: 2020–2023
At the Covid-reshaped season opener in Jerez, Marquez produced a superhuman comeback ride after an early mistake — carving back through the field with lap times that defied belief. But pushing the limit bit back. A crash at Turn 3 left him with a shattered right humerus.
He tried to return the following week but the arm gave way. What followed was four years of frustration: four operations, infections, setbacks, and a constant cycle of recovery. Three of those surgeries came in 2020 alone.
His first comeback in 2021 brought flashes of brilliance — three victories — but a training crash left him with diplopia (double vision), a problem he had first suffered a decade earlier. That forced him out of the final races of the year.
By 2022, even more bad luck struck. A violent highside in Indonesia sidelined him again, and though he returned, his arm was still not right. It took a bold decision: a fourth operation in the United States, where surgeons re-broke and rotated his arm 30 degrees to restore functionality. It was a make-or-break gamble, and thankfully, it worked.
Marquez returned late in the year, even scoring a podium in Australia, but the journey was far from over.
The Big Call: Leaving Honda
2023 brought further crashes, this time not just arm-related. At the Sachsenring, a track where he had once been unbeatable, he fell five times in one weekend and skipped Sunday’s race altogether. His long relationship with Honda — the factory that had backed him from day one in MotoGP — seemed at breaking point.
Rumors swirled, and eventually reality followed: Marquez stunned the paddock by announcing he would leave Honda at the end of the year. Even more shocking was his next step. He signed for Gresini Racing, taking a year-old Ducati and giving up millions in salary, simply because he believed it was his only path back to the front.
It was a risk, but it paid off. In 2024 he won three races, finished third overall, and proved he was still one of the fastest men alive. That form earned him a factory Ducati seat alongside Francesco Bagnaia for 2025 — and the rest is now history.
The Greatest Comeback: 2025
This season, Marquez has been relentless. Week after week, he has combined experience with raw speed, producing the kind of dominance that once defined his early years. He equalled and then broke records — most doubles in a season, most consecutive wins on a Ducati, highest points tally in the Sprint era — and did it with the composure of a man who knows how close he came to losing it all.
From near retirement to seventh MotoGP crown, across three teams, two factories, countless crashes, and five surgeries, Marquez has completed a sporting resurrection unlike any other.
Name a better comeback. We’ll wait.
Marc Marquez: The Numbers Behind the Story
- 7 MotoGP World Championships, equalling Valentino Rossi
- 2,184 days between his sixth and seventh titles
- 5 surgeries on his right arm and shoulder since 2020
- 30 races missed due to injury
- 108 crashes since his last title in 2019
- 581 days between his last win in 2019 and his return victory in 2021
- 1,043 days more until his first Ducati win in 2024
- 541 points in 2025 so far — a new record in the Sprint era
- 10 doubles in a single season — breaking Bagnaia’s previous mark of five
- 7 consecutive doubles — a first in MotoGP history
- Now one of only six riders to win MotoGP titles with multiple factories (Honda & Ducati)
The Legacy Continues
By conquering 2025, Marquez not only matched Valentino Rossi’s tally of seven premier-class crowns, but also placed himself within striking distance of Giacomo Agostini’s record of eight.
More importantly, he reminded the world that resilience can be as defining as talent. From the lowest lows to the highest highs, Marquez has shown what it means to fight, to adapt, and to believe.
His story is not finished — but the latest chapter may be the most unforgettable yet.
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