Marc Marquez - Barely legal legend

What he lacks in years, Marc Marquez has more than made up for in prowess as his second consecutive title gives him membership to a very special club in motorcycle grand prix racing history

Before Marc Marquez crossed the finish line in second place at Motegi to clinch his second consecutive MotoGP title, only 15 riders in the 65 year history of the championship had managed to win more than one title in the premier class of motorcycle grand prix racing. What makes Marquez’s feat legendary is not just the fact that he has joined an exclusive club like that in such style – 17 wins from his first 33 MotoGP starts – but also due to his age.

At just 21-years-old, Marquez is not even the legal drinking age in some states in India and barely meets that requirement in the country that does the most to glamourize the culture of ‘getting hammered’; the United States of America. And yet the champagne has flowed near unabated for the young Spaniard who tripped up just a little bit before gathering his composure at Motegi and taking the points required to seal his championship double for Honda.

Marquez’s blistering early season form meant that the chasing pack lead by Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo had little realistic chance to capitalize on the young Spaniard’s slip ups (literally) in Misano and Aragon before he recovered to take second place in Japan.

In an age when sporting prodigies keep getting younger - think Sebastian Vettel and more recently, Max Verstappen – maybe Marquez’s tremendous start to competing in MotoGP should not come as too much of a surprise.

The process of scouting and training champions starts much earlier these days and the methods have become increasingly sophisticated too.

However, cold analysis shouldn’t get in the way of admiring Marquez’s feat, not to mention the method behind his ‘madness’. Even casual followers of MotoGP via television or social media can’t help but do a double take at seeing Marquez lean at a ridiculously acute angle to the race track or marvel at how he keeps scorching the timesheets while dancing on the very edge of adhesion on his Honda.

The fact that Honda’s main challengers Yamaha have been ill-equipped to arrest Marquez’s charge to the title raises some seeds of doubt about what would happen if Marquez, Rossi and Lorenzo went at it on equal machines. But ‘what ifs’ like that are the staple of motorsport that does its bit in keeping interest among fans.

Much like last year, Lorenzo and Yamaha have been more competitive at the tail end of the season and as you read this the combination may have netted the once dominant team another win. And while Marquez tripped up while in the lead at Philip Island - handing the win to Rossi - his job for the season is done and place in history cemented.