Marc Marquez is back. 1,043 days later, the Ilerda returned to the top of the podium and did so by sweeping the entire weekend in Aragon. This double victory, the first with Ducati, has rekindled the debate as to whether the eight-time world champion can fight for the title this season. 70 points separate him from the leader, Jorge Martín, and 47 from Pecco Bagnaia, second. It is difficult, there are many points of distance, but with 93 in the middle, it can never be ruled out as long as the mathematics say it is possible.
Stranger things have been seen. Pecco himself overcame Fabio Quartararo’s 91 points in 2022 to reach Malaysia with his first match point. Also Marc Marquez made championship returns in 2017 and 2013 to reduce the distance by 37 and 30 points This separated him from Maverick Viñales and Dani Pedrosa respectively. For this, it will be essential to have the consistency shown by the first two in the World Cup.
Mathematically, it is possible to fight for the title because there is eight races be challenged, which makes them stay 296 points in play. It’s complicated because Pecco and Jorge make almost no mistakes and he has failed badly at the start of the season. This victory could give him the boost he needed to maintain the consistency he needs if he is to arrive in Valencia with a chance of fighting for his ninth world title, seventh in MotoGP.
This is the pending problem for the Cervera driver this year. In the last four races, not counting Aragon, he had accumulated three zeros due to falls. and a sixth place at Sachsenring, another of his favourite circuits, in Sunday’s race. This saw him lose the lead of the top two in the standings and even lose third position to Enea Bastianini. But this weekend he returned to the podium after a perfect Grand Prix, in which he dominated practice, qualifying, the sprint and the long race.
Marquez needs consistency
If Marc Márquez can find this regularity and consistency again that he had in Aragon He is a serious candidate to fight for the title. He excludes himself from this fight and His realistic goal is to fight to finish in the top 3 of the championship, which wouldn’t be bad at all, especially considering where he’s come from in recent years and the ordeal he’s been through to get here.
But Marc Marquez He is capable of anything and this victory could give him wings to tackle the final stretch of the season. For now, the Gresini rider is cautious and prefers to proceed “race by race”. This week, he already has a new appointment at home. Bagnaïa, More precisely in Misano. The next two rounds of the championship will take place there, since the Emilia Romagna GP replaces the cancelled Indian GP.
This is precisely where Marc had achieved his last victory so far. If he manages to repeat his victory or stay on the podium, it would inflate the World Cup even more. The truth is that, as Pedro Acosta said, “Márquez’s victory gives more life to the championship”. He has Rossi’s nine within his reach and if he can find the key to regularity and consistency, he can become a serious threat to Pecco and Martín in the fight for the title.
