💣Marc Marquez emotionally recounted his 6-year journey back to the top of MotoGP and revealed the timing of his retirement, leaving racing fans completely surprised and regretful.
Marc Marquez has opened up about the struggles he endured during his tumultuous six and a half years of racing back to the top of MotoGP, revealing that he once considered hanging up his helmet at the end of the 2023 season – a decision that, had he not made a timely change, could have ended a glorious but difficult era.
Marquez’s journey back began after his crash in Jerez in 2020, when he broke his right arm and underwent four surgeries to recover. Since then, he has faced not only physical injuries but also mental crises. Marquez has admitted that there were times when he wondered if he was still at the level of competition, and even thought “my time was up.”
In early 2023, Marquez still had not found his form, and the future seemed uncertain: the Honda – which used to be his “powerful weapon” – was increasingly unstable and could not compete with his rivals using Ducati at that time. At the end of the 2023 season, he decided to end his long association with Honda after more than a decade to join the Gresini team using Ducati – a move considered risky but necessary to answer for himself: can Marquez still win?
The decision to switch to Gresini Ducati in the 2024 season opened a new chapter full of hope. He quickly rebuilt his confidence by winning three races this year, despite using a used GP23 – clearly demonstrating his determination and outstanding adaptability. The peak of his transformation was when Ducati offered him a place on the official team from the 2025 season, along with Francesco Bagnaia – one of the team’s strongest riders. So Marquez isn’t just back to compete; he’s back as a title contender, with a commanding lead in the 2025 MotoGP standings and many believe a seventh, or even ninth, title is within reach.
On retirement, Marc Marquez admitted that if the 2024 season at Gresini didn’t yield strong enough results to prove he was still capable of competing at the top level, he might have announced his retirement. More specifically, at the end of the 2023 season, he had considered retiring; but the emotional support of his brother Alex, his belief in the Ducati machine, and the feeling that “there was still something inside” kept him going.
Looking back, it can be said that Marc Marquez’s revival is one of the most emotional stories in MotoGP history: from the burden of injuries, doubts from fans and himself, to changing teams, changing bikes, taking risks in his career to find himself again. His achievements lie not only in his victories on the track but also in the fact that he dared to bet on the future, despite retirement being an option if things did not progress.
For fans, the revelation that Marquez had planned to retire at the end of 2023 was both shocking and heartbreaking – because we used to think he was invincible, but the reality is that even legends like him were faced with life and death turning points in their careers. But now, as the 2025 season is passing with Marquez as a strong championship candidate, fans are witnessing a super wonder – Marc Marquez is not only back in the race, but back stronger than ever.
