Magnificent Marquez!

He’s done it - Marc Marquez is the youngest ever rider to clinch the premier class world title in MotoGP. Thanks to a truly amazing debut season, the 20-year-old from Cervera, Spain also becomes the first rookie premier class world champion for 35 years.

Márquez’s debut world championship campaign in 2008 immediately served notice of his talent and he took a podium at Donington Park in his first season, despite a shortened campaign due to injury. In 2009 he scored a single podium on his way to eighth overall, before his full talent truly blossomed in 2010 as he scored an incredible 10 victories from 12 pole positions on his way to the 125cc world championship. One of his most notable rides was his win from last on the grid in Estoril.

Stepping up to Moto2 in 2011 the youngster got off to a rocky start, crashing out of the first two rounds. However, a first win in Round 4 at Le Mans laid the way for six more victories as he pushed Stefan Bradl closely for the title, until a crash in practice at Sepang ended Marquez’s season prematurely. Problems with his vision as a result of that crash cut short his 2012 pre-season, but he was well on the pace in the final test at Jerez and was therefore an instant favourite for the title.

Márquez did not disappoint in 2012, as he took victory in the first Moto2 race of the season in Qatar and made his intentions clear with some tough and controversial overtakes in the race. A first DNF after a crash at a wet Le Mans gave his rivals hope, as compatriot Pol Espargaro mounted a strong challenge, yet, after a coming together of the two at their respective home race in Catalunya - where Espargaró crashed out and Marquez collected valuable points - the title race was strongly skewed in the eventual world champion’s favour.

A total of nine wins - including two which saw him fight his way through the whole pack in Japan and Valencia - and 14 podiums ultimately saw the Spaniard take his maiden Moto2 title before moving up to the Repsol Honda Team in the MotoGP premier class for 2013, joining the previous season’s runner-up Dani Pedrosa.

A remarkable start to the campaign saw him go head-to-head in Qatar with multiple world champion Valentino Rossi, eventually losing out to the Italian. Despite that, Marquez’s rostrum at Losail would remarkably prove to be his first of 16 across the 18-round season, with the only two blots on his copybook being a crash while running second in the closing stages at Mugello and a disqualification for failing to make a mandatory bike change in time at Phillip Island.

At the inaugural Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas, he achieved his maiden premier class victory from pole position at only the second event of the campaign, in the process taking records away from Freddie Spencer as the youngest ever pole-sitter and race-winner in MotoGP.

In Jerez, Marquez made headlines as he collided with reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo to grab second place at the final corner, then pulled a memorable pass on Rossi around the outline of Laguna Seca’s world-famous Corkscrew. At Silverstone, he lost out to Lorenzo in a last-lap battle that will go down in MotoGP folklore as the pair crossed the finish line just 81 thousandths of a second apart.

They would trade paint again at Sepang, as Marquez came out on top for second position to further increase a championship lead he had retaken at July’s German GP following heavy crashes for both Lorenzo and Pedrosa. At both the Sachsenring and Indianapolis, the 20-year-old enjoyed perfect scores of pole position, fastest lap and race victory.

He clinched the title in Valencia on Sunday, replacing Spencer (who was a year older when he won in 1983) as the youngest ever premier class title winner by finishing in third place behind Lorenzo and Pedrosa following a thrilling early-race battle as the outgoing champion attempted to slow the pace.

Marquez, therefore, becomes the first debutant to clinch the premier class title since Kenny Roberts won in his first season of 1978. In doing so, he also becomes the 26th premier class world champion in the series, which dates back to 1949. He is the third Spaniard to claim the ultimate honour, after Alex Criville (1999) and Lorenzo (2010, 2012), and has won the titles of all three classes across just four years.

The accolades do not stop there. Marquez is just the fourth rider in the 65-year history of Grand Prix racing to win world titles in three different categories, along with: Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Rossi
To demonstrate his consistency, Marquez has finished in the top three 16 times in 2013 - the greatest number of podium finishes ever by a rookie in the premier class, possibly achieved as a result of his record nine pole positions.

At the second race of 2013 he became the youngest ever winner of a premier class Grand Prix race (20 years, 63 days) and the youngest rider to start from pole; Spencer had held both records since 1982.

His final total of 334 points will be one that is difficult to match!

Moreover, Marquez has won by introducing a new style of riding. It was the last rookie to win, Roberts, who introduced the now-familiar knee-scraping cornering to the premier class. Marquez has just taken it lower by cornering with his elbow scraping around the bends. Yet, off the track his ever-smiling face belie his aggressive riding and are winning him a legion of fans across the globe.

Marquez managed to reel in some of that aggression in the final race in Valencia. Having again qualified on pole he soon found himself following a tussle between Lorenzo and Pedrosa that may still find the former in trouble.  Having briefly taken the lead he realised that, with the front three comfortably clear, he did not need to take any risks and eased to the title by four points in front of his home fans. It appeared easier than the final margin suggests.

While the claims for long-term dominance from nine-time world champion Rossi are praise indeed, coming from younger contender Lorenzo this sounds like defeatism.

However, this is such a dangerous and fickle sport that it is too early to make such predictions. There is no doubt that he has the talent. However, luck also plays a key role. It only takes one bad accident or a season where his team is uncompetitive for the tables to turn. He benefitted early in the season when Pedrosa and Lorenzo both suffered bad falls which allowed him to build an early advantage and confidence.

Next season he will be the preferred rider in the team. Yamaha will undoubtedly look to come back stronger while Rossi has sacked his engineer.

Ducati will hopefully start to solve their problems and return to the front of the grid.
The 2014 season is already looking exciting!