FEATURE
P90
THE MARQUEZ PHENOMENON
MARC'S TALENT, HE
" … WITH WOULD HAVE MADE IT
PROBABLY
ANYWAY.
"
- Julia Marquez
So polite. So pitiless.
So damned fast.
By now his path to
glory is familiar: from
a working-class family in Cervera, not quite
halfway to the mountains of Andorra from
Barcelona, Marc was
talent-spotted at age
eight, and soon found
himself in the team and
under the care of former
125cc World Champion
Emilio Alzamora. The
strong Spanish entrylevel support system,
most especially RACC
(Royal Automobile Club
of Catalunya), provided
top-level machinery that his family could not afford; Emilio has
fostered his talent, Repsol took
him under its well-upholstered
wing... and here he is.
The fast track, right into the
factory Honda team. His path is
Rossi-like: one year to learn and
one to win in the junior classes,
then the big-time. Where his results so far outrank Valentino's.
And he's even younger than the
last great child prodigy, Freddie
class family find itself on the upper reaches of the World Championships? Here is the back-story,
in the words of father, son and
brother.
Talking with father Juliá (Catalan for Julian) it's clear where
both sons get their good manners. Marquez senior drives a
heavy crane/digger and (he admits reluctantly when pressed) is
Alex Marquez
Spencer, whose records Marc is
breaking race by race.
Precocious talent. And, rivals
be warned, he's not the only one.
This year another Marquez has
turned up for a first full season. In
the Moto3 maelstrom he's managed a fourth and a fifth in the
first four rounds. A great deal better than Marc did in his first four
125 GPs, though he was on the
rostrum at the sixth.
How did this humble working-
"very famous" as the guy called in
for the delicate jobs.
"Anyone can operate it, but to
actually work with one is different," he says. "Like a motorcycle
– easy to ride, but hard to ride to
the limit. When I go to Aragon,
I look at the big rock wall and
think... this part is pretty good,
but that part over there, the guy
was knocking off."
Right now with the slump in
construction, he's unemployed.
