Marc Marquez successfully secured his best championship finish since 2019 with an assured ride to second in Barcelona.
He claimed three victories on his way and appeared to show glimpses of returning to his former self on a bike.
Another fantastic opportunity looms in 2025 as he will partner two-time champion Francesco Bagnaia with Ducati.
Having a teammate like the Italian will be a tough gig, but if anyone knows how to win, it’s the six-time MotoGP champion who is hunting a seventh.
Marc Marquez’s technician ‘didn’t sleep’ much
Marquez struggled at the hands of a poor setup during Saturday’s Sprint Race, as he finished in seventh, five seconds behind the victor Bagnaia.
His race pace was far more encouraging on Sunday, and he got through unscathed meaning that he can now focus on having a positive 2024.
Speaking in the post-race press conference, he mentioned how it had been a tricky night for himself and his technician.
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“But my technician was super-great through the night — he doesn’t sleep a lot I think. We analysed everything we did, and we come back more or less to the bike we started with in FP1.
“Already in the Warm Up, I start to feel better and in the race, I was riding in my way. Of course, we had some weak points, but I was strong in my strong points, so that was super-positive.”
What is stopping Marquez from becoming a seven-time champion?
Looking at the picture for 2025, with Jorge Martin moving away from Ducati to Aprilia Racing, the door has been opened for Marquez to lead a championship charge.
That’s not to say that Martin is out of the picture, but the Ducati was so dominant for large parts of the year, that without it, while getting adjusted to new surroundings, defending his title will be tricky.
Marquez’s biggest opponent will be on the other side of the garage, as Pecco looks to avenge defeat and win a third title in four years.
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Keeping consistent and limiting mistakes as ever will be crucial to mounting a charge, exactly as Martin proved in 2024.
He won eight fewer races than Bagnaia and still came out on top by the slender margin of 10 points – but it isn’t how much he wins by that counts, right?