The pre-event press conference for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez was unusual for Marc Marquez – not because the track was the site of his career-threatening crash the year prior, but because this Thursday he was the oldest rider on stage by a considerable margin.
With Marquez joined by Franco Morbidelli (26), Pecco Bagnaia (24), world champion Joan Mir (23), Fabio Quartararo (22), and Moto3 sensation Pedro Acosta (16, pictured below with Marquez), it’s been odd to see Marquez at 28 years old be seen as one of the oldest riders on the grid.
However, following the departure of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso at the end of last year, and with the exception of 42-year-old Valentino Rossi (himself 10 years older than second-oldest rider Aleix Espargaro), Marquez is in fact now one of the sport’s veteran riders.
And, with his absence through injury last season giving Mir the chance to pick up his maiden title in only his second season in the premier class, Marquez admitted when asked by The Race that he knows that he’s in the middle of a changing of the guard that will eventually end with him stepping down – and that a season watching from the sidelines has heightened that sense.
“Of course it’s a change of generation,” he said. “This is normal. It’s sport, it’s life.
“And it’s true that many young talents from Moto2 are arriving, and even younger talents will arrive from Moto3 to Moto2 to MotoGP.
“Still I feel young, at 28 years old, so this is good. I feel good motivation to continue and to learn about all these guys. It’s true that after one year out of the circuits, the comeback is not easy and you see that some of them [other riders] changed the riding styles a bit and the bikes changed a lot. It’s only been one year, but quite a lot changed. And it’s interesting to see.”
However, Marquez has also acknowledged for perhaps the first time ever that his time dominating MotoGP won’t last forever.
Marquez’s six MotoGP titles so far have remarkably come in the span of just seven seasons – but that is a record that’s not too different from Rossi’s, whose seven premier-class crowns were achieved in the first nine campaigns.
In a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Rossi acknowledged he has long missed the boat on retiring at his peak – but reiterated his belief that it would not have been worth it anyway, as long as he was still enjoying racing.
Yet, offering something of a contrasting view – and what can be read as the thinnest of swipes at his Italian rival – Marquez says he won’t hang around forever once he senses that the time is right to depart.
“When the new generation arrives,” the Repsol Honda rider added, “I still feel competitive, but there will be the day and the time to accept that the new generation has arrived, are better than you, you will start dropping, and just retire or continue, but… when I will not feel competitive, [able] to win races, for me it’s better to stay at home. Because I’m here to fight with all of them.”
