Marquez: 2013 MotoGP world champion

Marc Marquez has finished third in the Valencia GP at Valencia to become the youngest ever MotoGP world champion in his rookie season. The Repsol Honda rider, who started from pole position, shared the podium with teammate Dani Pedrosa as race victory went to outgoing title winner Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing).

Having already made himself the youngest premier class race winner and pole-sitter as well as registering numerous other records, Marquez now becomes the youngest ever world champion and takes the mantle away from Freddie Spencer.

At the same time, the 20-year-old from Cervera, Catalunya becomes the first rookie world champion for 35 years, following in the footsteps of Kenny Roberts in 1978.

“You know…it is a dream that has come true!” said Marquez. “Maybe too early because I didn’t expect it in the first season of MotoGP! It feels so good.

“I cannot explain what I feel, to fight in front of all of our fans with Jorge and Dani (Pedrosa) -- two of the best riders in the history of MotoGP. Now I just want to say thanks to Honda, all of my team, all of the people that helped me, my family…they are always there and I don’t know what else I can say because I feel so good!”

Lorenzo made his plan clear over the opening laps. Having shot through into the lead, the title winner of 2010 and 2012 attempted to slow the pace as last year’s victor Pedrosa ran second from Marquez, Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing). Having avoided incidents on a selection of occasions, the tipping point came on lap 10 as Pedrosa overhauled Lorenzo but was instantly pushed wide at Doohan Corner, leaving Marquez in the lead.

Lorenzo retook the top spot just a lap later, while Bautista pressured Rossi before dropping to fifth and the recovering Pedrosa rose to third before being waved through by Marquez on the 26th tour. By this point, knowing Marquez would still become world champion, Lorenzo put the power down to win for the eighth time this year (two more victories than Marquez) by almost four seconds. Pedrosa collected his 13th rostrum of the season, with Marquez sealing the world title in a comfortable third.

Elsewhere, Rossi signed off his partnership with long-time crew chief Jeremy Burgess in fourth place, ahead of Bautista as LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl finished sixth from Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Bradley Smith and Ducati Team trio Nicky Hayden (in his last race for the Italian marque), Andrea Dovizioso and Michele Pirro. Aleix Espargaro finished 11th in the last event to feature the CRT label, while Cal Crutchlow crashed out of his final Grand Prix with the Tech3 outfit.

Six riders failed to make the finish: Australian Damian Cudlin (PBM), Lukas Pesek (Came IodaRacing Project), Yonny Hernandez (Ignite Pramac Racing), Randy de Puniet (Power Electronics Aspar), Andrea Iannone (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) and the aforementioned Crutchlow, while Remus Racing Team wildcard Martin Bauer successfully completed the distance on his second MotoGP™ appearance.

Attention now turns to pre-season testing in Valencia, starting on Monday, November 11. The 2014 campaign will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday 23 March, with Marquez heading to the Losail International Circuit as the 26th premier class world champion.

MARC MARQUEZ IN PROFILE
Marquez’s debut World championship campaign in 2008 immediately served notice of his talent and he took a podium at Donington Park in his first season, despite a shortened campaign due to injury. In 2009 he scored a single podium on his way to eighth overall, before his full talent truly blossomed in 2010 as he scored an incredible 10 victories from 12 pole position on his way to the 125 world championship title. One of his most notable rides was his win from last on the grid in Estoril.

Stepping up to Moto2 in 2011 the youngster got off to a rocky start, crashing out of the first two rounds. However, a first win in round four at Le Mans laid the way for six more victories as he pushed Stefan Bradl closely for the title, until a crash in practice at Sepang ended Marquez’s season prematurely. Problems with his vision as a result of that crash cut short his 2012 pre-season, but he was well on the pace in the final test at Jerez and was therefore an instant favourite for the title.

Marquez did not disappoint in 2012, as he took victory in the first Moto2 race of the season in Qatar and made his intentions clear with some tough and controversial overtakes in the race. A first DNF after a crash at a wet Le Mans gave his rivals hope, as compatriot Pol Espargaro mounted a strong challenge, yet after a coming together of the two at their respective home race in Catalunya -- where Espargaró crashed out and Marquez collected valuable points -- the title race was strongly skewed in the eventual world champion’s favour.

A total of nine wins -- including two which saw him fight his way through the whole pack in Japan and Valencia -- and 14 podiums ultimately saw the Spaniard take his maiden Moto2 title before moving up to the Repsol Honda Team in the MotoGP premier class for 2013.

Moving into 2013, Marquez joined the previous season’s runner-up Dani Pedrosa. A remarkable start to the campaign saw him go head-to-head in Qatar with multiple world champion Valentino Rossi, eventually losing out to the Italian. Despite that, Marquez’s rostrum at Losail would remarkably prove to be his first of 16 across the 18-round season, with the only two blots on his copybook being a crash while running second in the closing stages at Mugello and a disqualification for failing to make a mandatory bike change in time at Phillip Island.

At the inaugural Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas, he phlegmatically achieved his maiden premier class victory from pole position at only the second event of the campaign, in the process taking records away from Freddie Spencer as the youngest ever pole-sitter and race winner in MotoGP.

At Jerez, Marquez made headlines as he collided with reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo to grab second place at the final corner, then pulled a memorable pass on Rossi around the outline of Laguna Seca’s world-famous Corkscrew. At Silverstone, he lost out to Lorenzo in a last-lap battle that will go down in MotoGP folklore as the pair crossed the finish line just 0.0081 seconds apart. They would trade paint again at Sepang, as Marquez came out on top for second position to further increase a championship lead he had retaken at July’s German GP following heavy crashes for both Lorenzo and Pedrosa. At both the Sachsenring and Indianapolis, the 20-year-old enjoyed perfect scores of pole position, fastest lap and race victory.

He clinched the title in Valencia on November 10, replacing Spencer as the youngest ever premier class title winner by finishing in third place behind Lorenzo and Pedrosa following a thrilling early-race battle as the outgoing champion attempted to slow the pace. Marquez therefore becomes the first debutant to clinch the premier class title since Kenny Roberts won in his first season of 1978. In doing so, he also becomes the 26th premier class world champion in the series, which dates back to 1949. He is the third Spaniard to claim the ultimate honour, after Alex Criville (1999) and Jorge Lorenzo (2010, 2012), and has won the titles of all three classes across just four years.

A few facts about Marc Marquez:
- At the age of 20 years and 266 days, Marquez is the youngest rider of all-time to win the world title in the premier class, taking the record from Freddie Spencer who was 21 years and 258 days of age when he won the 500 title in 1983, also riding a Honda
- Marquez is just the fourth rider in the 65-year history of Grand Prix racing to win world titles in three different categories, along with Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Valentino Rossi
- Marquez has finished in the top three 16 times in 2013 -- the greatest number of podium finishes ever by a rookie in the premier class.
- He has qualified on pole position nine times in 2013 – the greatest number of pole positions ever by a rookie in the premier class
- At the second race of 2013 he became the youngest ever winner of a premier class Grand Prix race (20 years, 63 days) and the youngest rider to start from pole; Freddie Spencer had held both records since 1982.
- His points total of 334 is the greatest number of points ever achieved in a rookie season in the premier class.

Biography
Date of birth: February 17, 1993
Place of birth: Cervera, Spain
First Grand Prix: Qatar 2008, 125
First pole position: France 2009, 125
First podium finish: Great Britain 2008, 125
First Grand Prix victory: Italy 2010, 125
Grand Prix starts: 96
Grand Prix victories: 32
Podium finishes: 55
Pole positions: 37
Fastest race laps: 27
World Championship Wins: 125 (2010), Moto2™ (2012), MotoGP™ (2013)

MotoGP career:
2008: 125 World Championship – 13th position on KTM, 13 starts, 63 points
2009: 125 World Championship – eighth position on KTM, 16 starts, 94 points
2010: 125 World Championship – world champion on Derbi, 17 starts, 310 points
2011: Moto2™ World Championship – second position on Suter, 13 starts, 251 points
2012: Moto2™ World Championship – world champion on Suter, 17 starts, 324 points
2013: MotoGP™ World Championship – world champion on Honda, 18 starts, 334 points