The door finally closed at the weekend, as Marc Marquez took the second place he needed to retain the MotoGP World Championship at the earliest opportunity, and in doing so become the youngest rider ever to accomplish the feat. Younger than Mike Hailwood, younger than Valentino Rossi, it certainly feels like we are witnessing the start of another era of greatness in the sport and it will be an uphill battle for the likes of Jorge Lorenzo to claw back the momentum he has built up since his arrival in the top class last year.
The question that MotoGP fans ask me most often about Marquez is whether he really is the happy-go-lucky cheerful character they see every week on their TV screens. I’d love to be able to tell them about a deeper and darker side to him involving media spin and marketing subterfuge, but genuinely it is hard to find a fault in the Spaniard’s attitude and personality off the track.
He is always a pleasure to interview, despite the intense pressure to get results, and the overbearing press attention every waking hour. You always sense that he is enjoying every second of his racing career, and you definitely can’t say that about most others out there. When I spoke to him straight after the race in parc fermé, he immediately gave thanks to his team and his family and it’s hard to separate the two, however clichéd that may sound.
Clearly his close family have been instrumental in getting him to where he is today, whether that’s his Dad Julià being at his side every weekend, mum Roser back at home in Cervera (she generally doesn’t like to watch the action) or his younger brother Alex on hand to offer a racer’s perspective.
However Marc was also vindicated in his decision to bring in the remaining members of his ‘racing family’ into the Repsol Honda fold at the start of the year. The last couple of mechanics who had seen him through his previous championships in 125 and Moto2 were given the green light to join back up as part of his crew, and as he romped to victory in the first ten events of the year, the old adage that a happy racer is a fast racer soon became evident. MotoGP isn’t a one-man sport, it’s crucially a team effort, and those around him have helped shape the athlete we see out on track today.
He is a 21 year-old living the dream in more ways than one, and when Marc tells you he never imagined he would be where he is today, you believe him. While pundits earmarked him out for greatness when he stepped up into the premier class, I don’t think many could have expected two years down the line he would be celebrating back-to-back MotoGP World Championships – especially considering the quality and experience of the field around him. You just hope that he continues to enjoy what he does, and if so, we will see many years of greatness out on track.
