Fabio Quartararo didn’t necessarily seem like a future superstar when he entered MotoGP. He finished 10th in the standings in his final Moto2 season.
Quartararo’s victory in Barcelona in 2018 was his sole triumph in the lower classes. He arrived in the midst of a historic run of dominance from Marc Marquez, who had rattled off three successive championships and was about to win a fourth.
While El Diablo wasn’t able to win any races as a rookie, he surprisingly competed with Marquez at the outset. He bagged six pole positions and seven podiums on his SRT bike.
At the start of the following season, Marquez broke his arm in Jerez, an injury that led to years of complications. In his absence, new names emerged, with Joan Mir winning the 2020 title for Suzuki.
Quartararo became a world champion the following year before losing out to an epic Francesco Bagnaia comeback in 2022. Now Marquez is back on top on a Ducati motorcycle, and MotoGP fans are no doubt dreaming of a championship battle with Yamaha’s franchise rider in the years to come.
Fabio Quartararo found Marc Marquez pace daunting in first MotoGP test
Speaking on the Mig Babol podcast, Quartararo reflected on his first pre-season test on the Yamaha in 2019. He says then-Honda rider Marquez and Ducati star Andrea Dovizioso were multiple seconds quicker.
The Frenchman briefly felt out of his depth, and he was disappointed to finish 16th on his debut. But he started to build his confidence thereafter.
“When I went to MotoGP, the two riders who impressed me the most were Dovizioso and Marc,” Quartararo said. “The first day of testing in 2019, the first laps I said, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing here, they’re three seconds quicker’.”
Turning to 2025, Quartararo explained how Marquez had changed his approach. He’s now much ‘cleaner’ on a dominant Ducati motorcycle.
Ultimately, though, he’d be fast regardless of the conditions. And that’s why Quartararo continues to look up to him at the age of 26.
“When you see Marc now with Ducati, he has totally changed his riding style, which is much cleaner and goes very fast,” he said.
“Marc is a rider who, if there’s snow, wind, rain, sun, always goes fast. For me, he’s an example as a rider.”
Marc Marquez is nothing like what you’d expect behind the scenes at Ducati
The feeling at Ducati is that Marquez would be ‘unbeatable’ if he could master the right-hand turns. He’s been wrestling the long-term effects of his injury in those corners.
The Ant of Cervera is already close to invincible status on his best days. He topped every session at Aragon last weekend to make it four wins in the first eight races.
Marquez is trying to match Valentino Rossi with a seventh premier-class title. He’s by far the most successful rider on the current grid, and he’s chasing the only all-time records that remain.
And yet, Marquez is humble behind the scenes at Ducati, his engineer says. He’s willing to admit it when he’s wrong and he apologises for his mistakes, qualities that have evidently served him well in his career.
