Marquez Reminds Us Why He’s Still the Best After Remarkable Comeback In Oz

Marc Marquez was as low as 13th heading into turn one after starting from second, so how did he ultimately go on to win?

After losing out on pole to championship leader Jorge Martin in qualifying, Marquez had to settle for second again in the short race as the Pramac Ducati rider went on to extend his series lead over Francesco Bagnaia thanks to yet another sprint win.

Martin increased his series lead over Bagnaia again on Sunday, however, he didn’t do it by claiming victory as Marquez proved to be too good despite a truly awful start.

As the grid formed ahead of the race start, Marquez was seen removing a tear off as a bug splattered onto his visor. There is understood to be a gentleman’s agreement in MotoGP not to drop tear offs, or at least to limit the amount of them dropped on the grid at the start.

But Marquez admitted he had no choice and said this was a cause for his poor start. 

Speaking to TNT Sports, Marquez said: “There was a big insect! A big one. On the film on the visor. I couldn't see, and I would've arrived at the first corner without seeing."

But the drama continued just a few seconds later for Marquez as the same tear off he released then got stuck under his rear tyre.

"Always something happens,” said Marquez after his win. I never pull the tear-off at the start because it is dangerous. But this time, as I put the holeshot of the bike [on], something was super-big [in front of my eyes].

“I didn’t have a chance [to think]. I took it off. Unluckily it went under my wheel. I saw it, I tried to remove it but it was impossible.

“When I released the clutch it started to spin. I don’t know where I was at the first corner but I overtook many riders. I thought it was impossible to catch Martin, then on lap five or six I was more calm. I was saving the tyre to have the last attack.”

An example of tear-offs causing issues for other riders came at Misano in 2020 when Jack Miller’s Ducati picked up Fabio Quartararo’s tear-off and it ended the Australian’s race.

Acknowledging that he didn’t have a choice but to remove his tear off, Marquez added: “In the end it was my fault, because it’s not a rule but with the riders we speak together to try to avoid removing the tear-off on the grid, for you and also for the others. But this time I didn’t have a choice.”

Marquez, who had already been struggling on Friday with his race starts as he nearly lost the rear-end of his GP23 on two occasions, dropped all the way down to what looked like 13th or 14th.

Hopes of a victory looked to be dashed before they really ever got going, however, Marquez produced a comeback ride that only he can.

By the end of turn two he was back into the top ten, but Marquez didn’t stop there as he rolled past another two riders by the time they exited turn four. Marquez miraculously ended lap one in sixth place.

In recent years there have been instances where Marquez dropped down the order and made a comeback that we’ve rarely seen before.

Jerez 2020 is a prime example of this as he nearly crashed from the lead which dropped him outside the points before he overtook every rider except race leader Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales, before eventually crashing out.

There have also been instances where he has out-performed his motorcycle to win against a rider-bike package that looked to have the upper hand on him.

His comeback win in Australia was another example of Marquez delivering a performance that will be remembered for a long time, especially as he dethroned Martin on a weekend where the Spaniard looked untouchable.

Winning in MotoGP is hard even when you’re on the front row, but Marquez coming from 13th showed why he is best at dealing with adversity.

In Sunday’s race Marquez had two bites at the cherry to take the lead, with the second of those being successful.

Speaking about the battle against Martin, Marquez said: “I was behind Jorge, trying to plan the attack for the last five, four laps. And then I did it because had a small mistake, and I said ‘Ok, now I will lead the race’.

“And in that moment I thought he would stay behind. But I saw on the straight with the slipstream he was able to overtake me, and then when he overtook me I said ‘Ok, we need to attack well’.

“Then we attacked in that Turn 4 and that last two laps we used the tyre, we pushed a bit more and we did again that 1m28s low, which was a very fast lap.”

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