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Marc Marquez, at the age of 20 years and 266 days, has become the youngest person to win the MotoGP/Premier Class World Championship.
He has beaten the record that was held by Freddie Spencer, who was 21 years and 258 days old when he clinched his first premier class title back in 1983.
Marquez has also become only the second rider to win the premier class title in his first season, sharing this honour with Kenny Roberts, who won his first premier class title in 1978.
Marquez, who replaced Casey Stoner in the Repsol Honda Team for the 2013 season, has thrilled the crowds with his riding style, his controlled aggression and most importantly his outright speed, pushing the established firm over the edge and beyond what they are capable of as riders to take his first MotoGP World Championship, and his third world championship in his Grand Prix motorcycle racing career.
Marquez has also joined an elite company of riders – consisting of Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Valentino Rossi – to have won world championships in three different categories.
To compare how Marquez is tracking, let us have a look at how Rossi went in his first and second seasons in the premier class.
In his first season, Rossi finished second in the championship, scoring 209 points in 16 races, with two wins, 10 podiums, and five fastest laps.
In his second season, Rossi won the championship, scoring 325 points in 16 races, with 11 wins, 13 podiums, four pole positions, and 10 fastest laps.
Marquez on the other hand won the championship in his first season this year, scoring 334 points in 18 races, with six wins, 16 podiums, nine pole positions, and 11 fastest laps.
This means that there is the possibility in 2014 he could attain the record for most points in a premier class season, because he is on a very competitive bike, but also he is going to improve even more in terms of his ability to handle the bike in a physical sense.
This will make him a more rounded rider in terms of his outright speed but also make him able to deliver this fantastic speed on a consistent basis without making unnecessary mistakes.
Marquez has the ability and currently the bike to dominate the sport for many years, and become the next rider touted by many as the greatest of all time.
Only injury could prevent this from happening, and if the number of points he has scored this season, 334 – the same as Sir Donald Bradman’s highest Test cricket score – is any omen of his future, he will be in great company.
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