Marc Márquez Alenta (born 17 February 1993 in
Cervera,
Lleida,
Spain) is a
Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is the
2010 125cc World Champion and the
2012 Moto2 World Champion
125cc World Championship
Márquez made his championship debut on 13 April 2008 on the 125cc
2008 Portuguese Grand Prix
at the age of 15 years and 56 days. He is the youngest Spanish rider to
take a pole position or a podium in a motorcycle racing world
championship.
Márquez achieved his first podium on 22 June 2008 at the
British Grand Prix at the age of 15 years and 127 days. For 2009, he was a factory KTM rider, and in the
French Grand Prix achieved his first pole position at the age of 16 years and 89 days. He also took pole for the
2010 Spanish Grand Prix
but disaster struck on lap one when the exhaust pipe fell off and went
under the rear wheel, causing Márquez to crash heavily and injure his
shoulder. His first win was on 6 June 2010 at
Mugello. Further victories at
Silverstone,
Assen and
Catalunya in the next three races saw Márquez become the youngest rider to win four successive races.
[1] His fifth win in succession at the
Sachsenring was
Derbi's 100th victory in Grand Prix racing, and Márquez became the first rider since
Valentino Rossi in
1997 to win five successive races in 125cc racing.
[2]
He was less successful in the following races, dropping to third in the standings at one point behind
Nicolás Terol and
Pol Espargaró after being taken out by
Randy Krummenacher at the first corner at
Motorland Aragon.
[3] Four successive wins from
Motegi onwards have moved Márquez into a 17-point lead over Terol with only one round to go. At
Estoril,
the race was red-flagged due to rain with Márquez running second to
Terol. When returning to the grid for the second race, Márquez fell on
the sighting lap and had to return to the pits. With repairs, Márquez
started at the back of the field having not made it out of the pit lane
before it closed five minutes prior to the start. Despite this, Márquez
recovered to win the race and thus extend his lead before the Valencia
finale. His tenth victory of the season moved him to within one of tying
the record set by Rossi in 1997.
[4] He would fall short of tying it as he took a measured fourth place at the final race in
Valencia to become the second-youngest World Champion after
Loris Capirossi.
[5][6]
Moto2 World Championship
Márquez moved into the Moto2 class for
2011 – the first of an expected two-year deal
[7] – as the sole rider of the new team
Monlau Competición, run by his own personal manager
Emilio Alzamora. Márquez started the season with a pair of accidents in
Qatar and at
Jerez, after contact with
Jules Cluzel. He finished 21st in
Portugal, before taking his first victory in the class at the
French Grand Prix, recovering from a poor start that left him in ninth position at one point of the race.
[8] At his home race in
Catalonia, Márquez finished second behind championship leader
Stefan Bradl, before another fall at
Silverstone,
having started from his first Moto2 pole position. With Bradl taking
his fourth victory in the first six races, Márquez trailed him by 82
points at the end of the weekend.
[9]
Márquez made a mid-season surge up the championship standings, winning
six of the next seven races to move within six points of Bradl in the
championship standings.
[10]
In
Japan, Márquez took his seventh pole position of the season but was beaten in the race by
Andrea Iannone,
[11]
but Márquez's second place finish combined with a fourth place for
Bradl, allowed Márquez to take the championship lead by a point.
[12] At the
Australian Grand Prix, Márquez was involved in an incident with
Ratthapark Wilairot
during free practice; Márquez crashed into the back of Wilairot after
the session had been concluded, and for riding in an "irresponsible
manner", was given a one-minute time penalty onto his qualifying time.
[13]
The penalty ensured Márquez would start the race from last on the grid,
but he made his way through the field and eventually finished the race
in third place, albeit losing his championship lead to Bradl, who
finished second.
Prior to the
Malaysian Grand Prix, Márquez confirmed that he would remain in Moto2 for the 2012 season,
[14]
after rumours of a move into the MotoGP class. Márquez's race weekend
was hampered in the opening minutes of the first free practice session,
as he crashed on a damp patch of asphalt.
[15]
After sitting out two further practice sessions, Márquez completed two
laps in the qualifying session, but his times were only good enough for
36th on the grid. He did not start the race, as he failed a medical
examination prior to the warm-up on race morning.
[16] Márquez attended the final race of the season in
Valencia, in the hope of being fit to compete, but withdrew due to his continued vision problems, giving Bradl the title.
[17]
On 12 July 2012, it was announced that Márquez had signed a two-year contract with the
Repsol Honda team in MotoGP, replacing the retiring
Casey Stoner alongside
Dani Pedrosa, from
2013 onwards
