A Decade Of Marc Marquez At Repsol Honda, World Champion Ambition Again

Marc Marquez, MotoGP 2022 being the 10th year with Honda (photo :motogp.com)

JAKARTA - MotoGP 2022 will mark Marc Marquez's decade in the premier class with Repsol Honda. The racer wants to wear the crown again. Marc Marquez has been part of the Repsol Honda family since moving up to the MotoGP class in the 2013 season.

With rookie status, aka a newcomer, the Spaniard immediately came out as world champion. After embracing his first championship title, Marc Marquez is like "addicted" to continue to be number one. So far, the rider nicknamed The Baby Alien has a total of six MotoGP championship trophies, only one title behind Valentino Rossi, who just retired last season.

MotoGP 2022 will mark Marc Marquez's decade in the premier class with Repsol Honda. The target of being a world champion was announced. This moment of a decade, Marquez wants to celebrate it in a special way.

Marquez has been part of the Repsol Honda family since moving up to the MotoGP class in the 2013 season with the status of a rookie or newcomer. Since then the Spanish racer with the nickname "The Baby Alien" has immediately become world champion in a row. Until now Marquez has had six MotoGP championship trophies, only one title behind Valentino Rossi, who just retired last season.

"I knew we would try to win the title to celebrate this moment well. My target this year is to try and fight for the title," said Marquez, as quoted by The Race.

Naturally, Marquez set a high target for the 2022 MotoGP. Marquez had bad luck after the 2019 world champion. The arm injury he suffered made him almost absent throughout the 2020 season. The Baby Alien, was only able to return to the track in the third series of MotoGP 2021 in Portugal.

“In 2020 I learned that you only have one body. If you take care of your body then you will have more races ahead."

However, due to conditions that are not yet 100 percent fit, Marquez was overwhelmed at last season's world championship. Towards the end of the 2021 season, a new problem resurfaced, this time being diagnosed with diplopia, aka double vision. Marquez was forced to miss two important races in MotoGP 2021.

In the press conference for the launch of the Repsol Honda team, Marquez said that ten seasons in MotoGP and ten seasons at Repsol Honda were a dream. "Of course also during these ten years we have achieved very good results, this is something special and I am enjoying it," he said.

“My target for this year is to try to fight for the world title. So, from now on, the target is to work hard to fight for the world title," said the 28-year-old rider.

In the MotoGP class, The Baby Alien has undergone 142 races, 99 podiums, 99 race wins, and won six world titles. But his journey in MotoGP has not always been smooth, Marquez experienced difficult times like in the 2015 and 2018 seasons, as well as injuries in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

When asked about his target for the next 10 years by Honda Racing Corporation who interviewed him Marquez said, "I want to be part of Honda's history, of course we have achieved a lot together, I feel part of Honda and we signed a four-year contract because I feel that way, and I don't need any other motivation. In the next 10 years I try to keep racing, keep enjoying. I don't know in ten years if I'll still be racing in the MotoGP class, because I've always said, when I don't have the level of performance to compete for the top three, racing means nothing to me.

Marc Marquez is the most successful Honda rider in MotoGP with six world champions. Currently, The Baby Alien's motivation is very high, as his physical condition is almost recovered and the new RC213V motorbike has great potential and he is starting to feel the limits of his control.