MotoGP, Marc Marquez steps on the Ducati with Rossi and Stoner in his sights

Marc Marquez will certainly arrive first before everyone else in unveiling the livery of his bike, with the Gresini team event on Saturday kicking off the presentations for 2024. The champion from Cervera, however, expects very different results from his move to Ducati and for that he will have to wait for the start of the championship. All eyes are on him, finally on a competitive bike after the last disappointing seasons on Honda.

If Marquez regains his lost speed, there are many records he could set. First of all, that of regaining the title after the longest winless period in the history of MotoGP. Rossi and Lorenzo went empty-handed for a maximum of 3 years before putting the number 1 back on their fairing: Valentino waited from 2005 to 2008, Jorge from 2012 to 2015. One more year for Stoner, who after being champion of the world in 2007 with Ducati, repeated the exploit in 2011 with Honda. If Marc hits the target in 2024, it would have been 5 years since his last title in 2019.

If he wins the championship, he would reach a total of 9 laurels, equalling not only Rossi, but also Mike Hailwood and Carlo Ubbiali. Not to mention that he would do it with a private team: a feat achieved in the past by Kenny Roberts in 1978, by Marco Lucchinelli and Franco Uncini (1981 and 1982), by Eddie Lawson (189) and by Valentino Rossi (2001).

The club of riders who have managed to win the World Championship in the premier class with two different brands is also quite small: Geoff Duke (Norton and Gilera), Giacomo Agostini (MV Agusta and Yamaha), Eddie Lawson (Yamaha and Honda), Valentino Rossi (Honda and Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati and Honda).

The records he could break, however, are not finished yet. Marquez has in fact won in his career on 20 different circuits, but there are 5 on the calendar where he has never triumphed: Portimao, Red Bull Ring, Indonesia, India and Kazakhstan. So he could equal or even surpass Stoner (victorious on 21 different tracks), Rossi (23) and Doohan (24).

While we're on the subject of numbers, let's continue. Because Marquez is 5 victories away from equalling Angel Nieto in terms of successes in all classes (90) and 9 to reach Giacomo Agostini in those in the premier class (68). Furthermore, with 11 podiums, he would reach Dani Pedrosa at 112 in MotoGP, with 12 instead Lorenzo who has secured 152 in all categories.