Marc Marquez has admitted that he still struggles to understand how he maintained the motivation to dominate MotoGP for so many years, despite establishing himself as one of the greatest riders in the sport's history.
The Ducati star has enjoyed an extraordinary career, collecting nine world titles and more than 100 Grand Prix victories. However, reflecting on his success, Marquez believes that winning once is far easier than sustaining that level of performance season after season.
“For me, the most important thing is keep doing,” Marquez told MotoGP.com.
“Win one time, the 22 MotoGP riders have the talent to do it. But to do many years in a row and keep going and keep with the same motivation, this is something that I don’t know how I did, I cannot answer.”
The Spaniard suggested that his age and energy levels during the early stages of his career may have played a role, admitting that he finds it difficult to explain the mentality that helped him remain so successful.
Marquez won eight world titles across the 10 seasons between 2010 and 2019, building a reputation for his aggressive riding and relentless pursuit of victory. His success continued into the early years of his MotoGP career before a serious injury in 2020 changed the course of his career.
The injury marked the beginning of a difficult period involving repeated physical setbacks and an increasingly uncompetitive Honda. Marquez went more than 1,000 days without a Grand Prix victory before returning to winning form, eventually rebuilding his career with Gresini Racing and moving to Ducati.
Looking back on the experience, the 2025 world champion acknowledged that his perspective on racing has changed considerably since his injury problems began.
“I felt like a superhero before 2020,” Marquez said.
“Then 2020 showed me, and I learnt, that we are humans and one day we are here, and another day we can be a different person.”
The 33-year-old also revealed the lasting impact of his physical struggles, particularly on his right shoulder, which has undergone seven surgeries.
Although his determination to compete remains strong, Marquez admitted that he now evaluates the risks of racing more carefully than he did earlier in his career.
“A rider decides where is the line. Now I start to evaluate more the risk, and those risks are those injuries, those crashes,” he explained.
His comments offer an insight into how years of success and adversity have reshaped his approach to MotoGP. While his competitive instincts remain intact, the experience of dealing with serious injuries has made him more conscious of the consequences of pushing beyond his limits.
Marquez now faces another important challenge at Phillip Island, where he heads into the Australian Grand Prix weekend just two points behind championship leader Jorge Martin.
With the title fight approaching its decisive stages, the Ducati rider will need to balance his trademark aggression with the experience gained from years of racing at the highest level.
For Marquez, the challenge is no longer simply about finding the speed to win. It is also about maintaining his competitiveness, managing the physical demands of the sport and knowing when to take risks as he continues his pursuit of another world championship.