Marquez vs Rossi: Who Is The Greatest?

At the age of just 25 Marc Marquez clinched his seventh motorcycling world championship at the weekend. Five of those have been in the premier class – MotoGP – with the other two collected on his way through the ranks, at 125cc and Moto2 levels.

His ability as a rider is indisputable and, regardless of what happens during the rest of his career, he deserves to be regarded as one of the greats. But, is he already the greatest? MotoGP has enjoyed being able to put some superb riders on the grid in recent years. When you can win world titles whilst lining up against Rossi, Lorenzo, Pedrosa etc. you clearly have something a bit special about you, but how does Marquez’s record compare to his rivals at a similar age – especially the one often referred to as the G.O.A.T (Greatest Of All Time), Valentino Rossi.

Let’s compare the records of Lorenzo, Rossi and Marquez at the latter’s age:

Number of 125 Championship wins
Lorenzo: 0
Marquez: 1
Rossi: 1

Number of 250/Moto2 Championship wins
Lorenzo: 1
Marquez: 1
Rossi: 1

Number of MotoGP Championship wins
Lorenzo: 2
Marquez: 5
Rossi: 4

Number of races, wins (win percentage), podiums
Lorenzo: 179, 44 (24.6%), 98.
Marquez: 183, 69 (37.7%), 115.
Rossi: 124, 68 (54.8%), 101.

Fancy a wildcard? Casey Stoner at 25: 144, 30 (20.8%), 63.

Going back a bit further, Mick Doohan hadn’t won any of his five titles at the age of 25.

Marquez has set a number of impressive records. Not only did he take the premier class title in his rookie season, but he’s only failed to win it once in six attempts (in 2015 when he finished 3rd). He followed his debut season win by taking victory at the first ten races of 2014, setting a record in the process, on the way to defending his title. In amongst a plethora of other records is the one for highest number of pole positions. At 78 this already comfortably eclipses the 69 of the much older Lorenzo and Rossi (65).

Of course, Rossi is no stranger to setting records. Whilst he is 14 years Marquez’s senior, and the Spaniard has time on his side, it’s hard to see some of his stats being bettered unless Marquez can maintain Rossi’s extraordinary desire to compete for as long as possible. 376 race starts (at the time of writing) is a staggering number and is more than double Marquez’s, as is his number of podiums (at 232 to 115). Remaining competitive over such a long time is a testament to Rossi’s drive and professionalism. It’s hard to think of anyone else who’d be capable of stretching a race-winning career to almost 21 years (1996-2017).

But who is the better racer? Marquez has enjoyed remarkable consistency, especially in the premier class, where he’s been with the same team and the same engine capacity and stroke. Detractors are now saying that to really prove himself he should move to a lesser machine, away from the dominant Hondas. Whilst I don’t necessarily buy into that, it’s an argument which isn’t without merit.

It’s not an accusation which could be levelled at Rossi. He won his first three premier class titles at Honda and, unhappy that he wasn’t getting the credit he deserved, surprised many people by jumping ship to the unfancied Yamaha team. Not only did he become the first rider to win back-to-back races on different bikes, he also became the first one to win back-to-bike championships with different constructors. His move to Ducati seven years later, however, did not produce the same results. In two years with the Italian marque he managed just three podiums on a bike he simply could not gel with. The fact that his bitter rival, Casey Stoner, had done so well on it must have irked Rossi – even though the Aussie was seemingly the only person who could get results on it.

What Marquez is unlikely to have is the chance to prove is how versatile he could be on different engine configurations. Rossi entered MotoGP towards the end of two-stroke 500cc era, loved by many purists as an age of unforgiving, electronic aid free, bikes of monstrous ferocity. Rossi collected his first title on one and then several more as the sport struggled to settle on a configuration. Wins at 500cc, 800cc, 990cc and 1,000cc is a record unlikely to be beaten.

What Marquez has proven is his ability to ride on the very limit. The sheer number of times he’s rescued a bike when a crash seemed inevitable is amazing. He appears to be comfortable exploring the very edge of performance, toying with disaster, and coming out on top. Similarly, Rossi spent a good chunk of his career proving his ability to win when events conspired against him and ride around bike problems to great effect.

I’ve gone this far and haven’t mentioned the likes of Agostini who collected fifteen world titles – a number which will surely never be beaten. He also raced the highly dangerous Isle of Man TT, a road race which nowadays is generally avoided by the elite circuit racers. The sport has changed so much that I find is hard, if not impossible, to compare riders across these eras though.

So, is Marquez the greatest modern day circuit racer? Not quite for me. The sheer amount Rossi has achieved, over so long, has him in front in my mind. Having said that, if Marquez continues on his current trajectory then it’ll be difficult for anyone to argue when he finally decides to hang up his leathers.