2184.that's the number of days between Marc Márquez 's last title and his return to the top in the 2025 season. An eternity in top-level sport. This Sunday at the Japanese Grand Prix, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider wrote one of the most incredible chapters in MotoGP history, clinching his seventh world title in the premier class, his ninth overall.
After years marked by injuries, doubts and team changes, the Cervera native confirmed that resilience is the prerogative of the greatest. His path to this crown is already considered by many to be the greatest comeback ever achieved in world sport.
The Japanese Grand Prix: a historic second place
Marc Márquez sealed his destiny on the iconic Motegi circuit, home of his former Honda manufacturer. Having arrived in Japan with a comfortable lead, all the Spaniard needed was second place, regardless of the result of his last title rival, his brother Alex Márquez (Ducati Gresini).
And that's exactly what he did. At the end of a well-controlled race, Márquez crossed the line just behind his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, who took his second win of the season. After starting third, the eight-time world champion showed his patience, pulling away from the pressure of Joan Mir (Honda) to chase down Bagnaia in the middle of the race.
The Italian's victory was, however, marked by a shudder: his exhaust belched out a worrying blue smoke at the end of the race. Fortunately, the mechanics held, giving the Ducati clan a one-two finish and unprecedented jubilation. For his part, Joan Mir took the third step of the podium, a result that put a smile back on the face of Honda, who were playing at home.
The smoke is back for @PeccoBagnaia #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/dVF5nzocRh
MotoGP (@MotoGP) September 28, 2025
For the French, the race was more mixed: Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) finished 8th, just ahead of Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) 9th.
2184 days to immortality: the comeback of a legend
Marc Márquez's last title came in 2019. 2020 was the year of the tragic turning point, with his spectacular crash in Jerez resulting in a fractured humerus. "At the time, no one knew it, but it was the beginning of the longest road to the top our sport has ever known," read the season.
Multiple operations, painful diplopia (blurred vision) and chronic shoulder and hand injuries followed. After spending 2022 and 2023 far from the top, the rider took the risky gamble of leaving his long-standing team, Honda, to join the satellite Ducati Gresini team, before joining the factory Ducati Lenovo team for his season of consecration in 2025.
This return to the forefront, after having gambled everything on a final operation to save his career, is proof of an unshakeable determination. Just two years ago, Márquez seemed light years away from the battle for the crown. Today, he is the Champion, after a journey fraught with pitfalls.
A definitive place in the history of the sport
With his seventh premier class title, Marc Márquez joins fellow Spaniard Valentino Rossi as one of the class's most successful riders. Only Giacomo Agostini is now ahead of him.
His story joins the pantheon of the sport's greatest comebacks, alongside such legends as Niki Lauda, who survived a terrible accident to regain the title, or Michael Jordan, who triumphed after his hiatus from baseball.
The distance covered since his last title in 2019 probably makes this the greatest comeback in the history of the sport. The champion from Cervera has proved that nothing is impossible, even after hitting rock bottom.
The coronation does not mean the end of hostilities for 2025. With Marc Márquez once again the formidable competitor he's always been, and Francesco Bagnaia back with a vengeance with victory in Japan, we can expect fierce duels between the two Ducati team-mates in the final races of this season, and above all in the battle for the title in 2026. The start of a new era of epic battles.
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