Marc Marquez’s winning mentality is as strong as ever – but he is approaching his new start at Ducati very differently than he did as a rookie with Honda
For Marc Marquez, joining the Ducati factory team is something of a second career, having already experienced all the highs and lows a rider like him can experience with Honda in the first ten years of his MotoGP career.
In 2013, when the Spaniard moved up to the premier class as the reigning Moto2 champion, the then 20-year-old had no idea what was in store for him.
“It’s very different, especially because in 2013 it wasn’t real. I wasn’t aware of where I was,” Marquez reflects. ”Now, at almost 32 years old, you’re realistic about what MotoGP is, what it means to be on a factory team, and what it means to be on the leading team.
“You take it all in much more. But in 2013, of course, it was overwhelming, everything was a gift. Now I still have butterflies in my stomach, but I’m very realistic about what it means to wear these colors,” the Ducati rider emphasizes.
Comparison: Marquez 2013 vs. Marquez 2025
When he entered MotoGP as a 20-year-old rookie, and in a prestigious team like Repsol Honda, Marquez acted instinctively, free from pressure or strategic considerations. This lack of concern, coupled with his talent, made him the youngest MotoGP world champion in history.
Today, with over a decade of MotoGP experience under his belt, he sees things differently. Although he says, “I hope it goes as well as with Honda, but it’s difficult.”
“At Honda, we arrived and won, but back then I was 20 years old. When you come to MotoGP at the age of 20, to the Repsol Honda team that has won the most races in the category in the past, you don’t have the awareness of where you are and what’s coming.”
“I think that not feeling anything, not feeling the pressure, not knowing what I had to do, also helped me. Now, with more experience, I know which garage I arrive at. I arrive at the reference garage,“ explains Marquez.
”Ducati already has an established rider”
While he once came to Honda like a bolt of lightning, overtaking established riders and aggressively claiming his place, he is relying on collaboration and adaptation at Ducati.
“There is an established rider in the garage here, a rider with more experience in this box who has contributed a lot to Ducati. It is logical that he has the first say,” emphasizes Marquez. But he is optimistic that the team will treat all drivers equally and pursue a common goal: victory.
“In the end, Ducati and all drivers place the same importance on one or the other winning. That is Ducati’s intention, which has been conveyed to me: if one doesn’t win, the other should win,” summarizes Marquez.
