MotoGP: Marc Marquez and a new master class in Australia
When Marc Márquez decides to end his sporting career, from which there are still many threads left, he will surely count the 2024 Australian Grand Prix among his most remarkable triumphs. And he has a choice, because at Phillip Island he achieved his 62nd MotoGP success, many of them have heroic overtones, but what happened on the 17th of this year will forever remain in his memory. Because before leaving, he had to face an unusual situation, and then fight with Jorge Martin.
Let’s start with the fact that as soon as the Spaniard parked his Ducati from the Gresini team in the second starting box and prepared to start… Mosquito. Sorry? Yes, mosquito! He had no way of stinging her because he could pierce the monkey with his proboscis. It was worse: on the group lap he got stuck in the visor of his helmet. Mark had no choice but to remove the cape to eliminate the discomfort in his vision, but… With his right hand he threw it to the side, but the wind carried it back and laid it under the rear wheel! Marquez couldn’t believe it, he moved, tried to stretch out as much as possible to take off the defender, but it was impossible. The result: as he started, the tire skidded on the plastic and the Catalan dropped to seventh place.
“Something always happens to me. I never take my guard off on the grid because I know this can happen. But when I prepared the starting system, there was a huge stain on it, and I had to remove it. I couldn’t believe that he got under my wheel. When I released the clutch, I started to skid and lose places,” Marquez said after the victory.
But how can I win if I was seventh? One fact: this is Marc Marquez. Yes, he had a dry spell at Honda which saw him leave his home in Ala due to lack of competitiveness. Yes, his body is damaged by serious injuries. But this is Marc Marquez. For some reason, Ducati decided to put him on the official 2025 bike and released Martin, who was challenging for the 2023 title and leading the 2024 World Championship on a Ducati del Pramac. a satellite team that has the same elements as the factory team. Many pointed to the priests of the house of Borgo Panigale, accusing them of making a mistake by choosing Marquez instead of Martin, who would eventually end up in Aprilia. After the Australian Grand Prix, whoever made the final decision on Mark will be able to walk into the office on Monday with a well-inflated chest.
Because it’s Mac Marquez. The six-time champion of the highest category beat his opponents and took third place. He then attacked Pecco Bagnaia, his future teammate, to finish second.. From here he was next to Martin, studying the Madrid man’s movements, analyzing where he was going to rush. The turns passed and no one doubted that Marquez would try to win. Because it’s Marc Marquez. And he did, he took the lead, but Martin recovered by stretching his braking hard into the first turn. Of course, but this is Marc Marquez. And the Catalan brought it back in turn four with a maneuver like… Yes, Marc Marquez.
“After a problem at the start, I started to move forward and thought it was impossible to catch Martin.but after a few laps I started to feel better. And I was able to achieve this. I was in a hurry the whole race, but I kept my cover to attack at the end of the race,” said the ex-Honda before taking his 110th MotoGP podium to celebrate his 62nd success, fourth in Australia, which, in addition They gave him a 14-point lead over Enea Bastianini in the fight for third place at the World Championships.
Marquez is not in contention for the crown, but he took his third win of the year and beat Martin on his 2023 Ducati against Martinator, who is a GP24. Transparent, Martin is fighting for the title. Well, he finally turned his head and chose to take 20 points from second place before losing it all on the final lap to a driver who has no equal in the fight for first place. “It was a very difficult race. My pace was strong, but the feeling was not the same as when sprinting. I knew that Marquez would give up because he had nothing to lose, I tried to fight, but then I thought that second place is a good result, 20 points for the championship,” analyzed the mature Martin, who arrived in Australia with a ten-point advantage over Banaya and gone with 20, three runs remaining (111 runs).
For the two-time champion, third place was positive. Although he lost ground in the World Cup race, the “help” from his future teammate when he overtook Martin mitigated the damage he would otherwise have expected. As soon as he arrived at Phillip Island, the Italian warned that this was the day he would lose to Martin. Although his pace was better than in the sprint, a podium finish was the most he could hope for. “It was very difficult, I didn’t have to do more than I did. Now there are two races ahead, which I am very worried about. We improved a little today to try to keep up with Mark and Jorge, but I couldn’t keep the pace,” said the two-time champion, who is betting big on Thailand and Indonesia to close the gap and reach Valencia, the last event to determine the chance lift your third crown.