Marc Marquez, MotoGP double champion: SPEED charts the Honda rider’s rapid rise to the top

MARC Marquez has rewritten the record books since his arrival in MotoGP in 2013. We chart his rapid rise to the top of the sport.

Marc Marquez: his rise to the top of MotoGP.

TWO years ago we were lamenting the imminent loss of Casey Stoner from MotoGP and wondering when we’d next see a rider so sublimely talented aboard the fastest two-wheel machines in the world.

It turns out we needed to look no further than the man who took over his Repsol Honda.

Marc Marquez has rewritten the record books since his first not-so-tentative laps aboard a fire-breathing MotoGP Honda in November 2012, becoming the youngest man in the sport’s history to win the world championship.

On Sunday he did it again, his second world title capping a season where he has so far posted an astonishing 11 race wins.

Ahead of this weekend’s Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, SPEED takes you through Marquez’s rapid rise to the top of the sport.

● MARQUEZ SEALS SECOND MOTOGP CROWN
● MILLER VOWS ‘NO MISTAKES’ ON HOME SOIL

FEBRUARY 17, 1993
Marc Marquez is born in Cervera in the Catalan region of Spain.

1999
6 years old

Marquez’s dad buys him a 50cc motorbike, which he uses to race in Catalan Motocross and Enduro Championships.

Marc Marquez got his start on a 50cc Yamaha.

2001
8 years old
He becomes Catalan Motocross Champion.

The Yamaha got quite the workout.

2003
10 years old
After switching to road racing, Marquez dominates the Open RACC 50cc class.

2004
11 years old
He finishes second overall in the 125cc RACC Championship. He also meets future mentor Emilio Alzamora for the first time.

2005-2006
12-13 years old
Marquez wins two consecutive 125cc RACC Championships.

Marquez needed to add ballast to the bike to come up to minimum weight.

JUNE 17, 2007
14 years, 4 months, 1 day old
Marquez wins his first 125cc race in the Spanish CEV Championship, feeder to MotoGP’s lower classes, against a field including future MotoGP rivals Stefan Bradl and Scott Redding, Moto2 racer Luis Salom, and current Moto3 race winners Efren Vazquez and Alexis Masbou.

Marquez with mentor Emilio Alzamora on the grid at a CEV race.

APRIL 4, 2008
15 years, 1 month, 19 days old
Marquez starts his first world championship race, the Portuguese 125cc Grand Prix. He finishes 18th after qualifying 26th.

Marquez at his first GP.

JUNE 22, 2008
15 years, 4 months, 6 days old
Marquez finishes third in the British 125cc Grand Prix, becoming the second-youngest rider in history to take a podium finish in a world championship race.

Mike di Meglio, Scott Redding and Marquez on the podium at Donington.

JUNE 6, 2010
17 years, 3 months, 21 days old
Marquez wins the Italian 125cc Grand Prix, his first world championship race win and the first of 10 wins that season.

Marquez on the grid at Mugello. Recognise the men to the left of frame? They are Patrick Unger and team boss Aki Ajo, who Jack Miller now rides for.

NOVEMBER 7, 2010
17 years, 8 months, 22 days old
Wins the 125cc World Championship, becoming the second-youngest rider to do so.

‘Supermarc’ wins his first world title.

MAY 15, 2011
18 years, 2 months, 29 days old
Marquez wins his first Moto2 race at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

Marquez nearly won the title in his first Moto2 season.

OCTOBER 28, 2012
19 years, 8 months, 12 days old
Marquez finishes third at Phillip Island to seal the Moto2 World Championship.

Marquez celebrates with his crew, his dad and his brother.

NOVEMBER 14, 2012
19 years, 8 months, 29 days old
Marquez hops aboard a MotoGP bike for the first time at a cold, wet Valencia. He takes to it like a duck to water and is immediately impressive, logging a time just a second slower than Dani Pedrosa.

It was a sign of things to come.

APRIL 21, 2013
20 years, 2 months, 5 days old
Marquez wins his first MotoGP race, leading the inaugural race at the Circuit of The Americas from lights to flag after starting from his first MotoGP pole position. He smashes Freddie Spencer’s longstanding record for the youngest premier-class race winner, and becomes the youngest rider to win races in all three classes.

Marquez dominated at a venue the championship had never visited before.

NOVEMBER 10, 2013
20 years, 8 months, 25 days old
Marquez finishes in third place at Valencia to clinch his first MotoGP World Championship, shattering the record for the youngest rider to win the premier-class title.

He celebrates with his legion of fans.

OCTOBER 12, 2014
20 years, 7 months, 26 days old
Marquez finishes second at Motegi to win his second MotoGP world championship, the youngest rider to win back-to-back premier-class titles and the first Spaniard to do so.

Marquez celebrates world title number two.

NOVEMBER 2, 2014
21 years, 8 months, 17 days old
The date Marquez will reach the same age Freddie Spencer was when he became the sport’s youngest premier-class world championship winner in 1983. Marquez broke that record in 2013, and has now won two titles before reaching Spencer’s old mark.

Marquez with Spencer at his book launch.

STATS (as of the 2014 Japanese MotoGP)

125cc World Championship (2008-2010)
46 races
10 wins (53%)
0 second places
4 third places
14 podiums (85%)
14 poles
1 world championship

Moto2 (2011-2012)
32 races
16 wins (50%)
6 second places
3 third places
25 podiums (78%)
14 poles
1 world championship

MotoGP (2013-2014)
33 races
17 wins (22%)
7 second places
4 third places
28 podiums (30%)
20 poles
2 world championships

Marquez with Honda Racing Corporation vice president Shuhei Nakamoto.

Originally published as Marc Marquez, MotoGP double champion: SPEED charts the Honda rider’s rapid rise to the top