VOLUME ISSUE DECEMBER , P83
M
arc Marquez capped quite possibly the
greatest comeback in MotoGP history
by claiming a ninth World title, and a
seventh in MotoGP, making child's play of the
competition along the way.
At one point this was going to be one of the most dominant
campaigns in history. Now in factory Ducati red, the 32-year-old won
14 of the year's first 15 Sprints (he finished second in the other), stood on
the podium in the first 17 Sunday races of the year, bar two, and amassed
11 Grand Prix successes for the third time in his career. In truth, the title fight
was done and dusted as early as June.
A glance across the garage, and it was clear Marc's genius papered over
Ducati's cracks. The struggles of teammate Francesco Bagnaia (just seven
podiums, two wins) and VR46 Ducati's Fabio Di Giannantonio (four podiums,
no wins), the grid's other men aboard GP25s, showed engineers had taken a
wrong turn with this year's bike. That Alex Marquez was his brother's closest
challenger all year long on last year's GP24 underlined the fact that last year's
machine still remained the benchmark for the class.
From a rather predictable and at times monotonous run to his coronation in Ja
-
pan, MotoGP entered into a weird and wacky phase once Aprilia's Marco Bezzec-
chi took the champion out in Indonesia. That spill injured Marquez's right shoulder
