Marc Marquez could leave MotoGP early as demand on riders increases, series warned

MotoGP paddock veteran Carlo Pernat has warned that Marc Marquez could leave the series a year early because of the increasing pressure being put on riders.

Pernat has been in racing for decades, working for Gilera from 1979, then Cagiva and Aprilia across motocross and circuit. More recently, he’s managed riders in the MotoGP paddock such as Marco Simoncelli, Tony Arbolino, and Enea Bastianini.

He’s seen Marc Marquez’s career up-close almost in its entirety, then, and feels that the Spaniard’s victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix has effectively given him a 10th world title, even if the mathematics are not yet absolute.

“Marc [Marquez] really gave an almost definitive blow to the world championship,” Pernat said on the post-Sepang edition of GPOne’s Fast show.

“For those who didn't understand, I had no doubts, I had practically never had any: he is frankly a Martian. A Martian who arrived with a beautiful spaceship and showed incredible things. 

“As long as he is here he will win, then he will leave with his spaceship.”

Pernat continued, saying that he believes Marquez - whose Ducati contract runs until the end of 2028 - will leave MotoGP at the end of next season because the demands being put on the riders by the series’ new Liberty Media ownership is having a negative impact on their quality of life. 

For a rider like Marquez, who has been a factory rider for his entire 14-year MotoGP career and who has made his own amount of history in grand prix racing, continuing to compete when demands are increasing makes decreasing sense, especially given the physical trauma his body has been through, especially since 2020.

“He will probably leave,” Pernat said.

“I think he will do another year, next year, because clearly he has a contract. 

“However, with everything that is happening with the new Liberty Media [ownership of MotoGP], frankly I think Marc is one of those who wants to remove the disturbance.

“You can see that he is becoming a bit of the leader of the people in all matters. 

“He wants to reach motorcycle retirement age, in a year or two, healthy. 

“With all the new rules they are introducing, the practice on Friday, Saturday, the 44 starts, Marc is realizing that it is no longer a good life as a rider. It is a life of recluses, very dangerous also from a physical and mental point of view.”