Marc Marquez reveals ‘most difficult fight’ to become MotoGP world champion again

New MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez says “the most difficult” battle he had over the last five years was “fighting against” himself in the wake of his serious arm injury in 2020.

On Sunday at the Japanese Grand Prix, the 32-year-old became MotoGP world champion for the seventh time in his career and for the first time since 2019.

Ending the longest drought in premier class history for a rider, Marc Marquez went through years of injury hell and uncompetitive Honda machinery wearing away his confidence since 2020 before making a last-gasp move to Gresini Ducati for 2024.

This ultimately set him on the path to winning the 2025 title with the Italian brand.

Marquez’s injury recovery journey since breaking his arm at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix is well-documented, though he admitted on Sunday at Motegi that the most difficult thing to contend with was his own mind.

“I feel a super strange feeling,” he said on Sunday evening in Japan.

“I’m enjoying it of course, but I’m not enjoying it at the same time. Just, I feel at peace with myself.

“It’s something that during these last years I was fighting against many, many things.

“But the most difficult thing was fighting against Marc: it was Marc against Marc. It was one Marc that said one way, and one Marc saying another way.

“One Marc said stop, the other Marc said continue. But in the end, I tried to follow my instinct, to do my 100%, never give up and try.

“This is the word: try. Try to do it. We did it. But now just enjoy the moment. I don’t want to remember what I passed by. I just want to enjoy the moment.”

More than a number, more than a title

Marquez’s celebrations on Sunday included the phrase ‘more than a number’ - a nod to recent controversy surrounding the significance of lower class titles, with the Spaniard a nine-time champion overall.

Read more: Why Marc Marquez 'closing the circle' has ended MotoGP's GOAT debate

But he sees this as being “more than a title” given the journey he has been on.

“I didn’t know about this ‘more than a number’, and it’s like this - more than a title,” he added.

“It’s the most difficult challenge of my career. When you are at the top of the mountain, taking every weekend the glory and winning championships, then when you fall down the hit is much more, and even you don’t lie on the ground - you go underground.

“So, to go out from there is impossible alone and many, many people around me helped.

“It was a lot of people that helped me, a lot of people who gave me the chance to follow my way, to say to me to follow my instinct, ‘we will be your friends anyway’, and this also was a very big help.”