The Motorsports Legend Who Authored the Biggest Sports Comeback You’ve Never Heard About

The word “comeback” can be cliché in sports, one used to celebrate an athlete who has overcome a setback to reach a goal that was far from guaranteed. Whether it be an injury or some other barrier, fans relish the idea of seeing an athlete beat the odds and return to the peak of their career.

Each comeback is unique, celebrated by those who were a part of it and compared to similar feats by those who witnessed it. But what pro motorcycle rider Marc Márquez pulled off in 2025 simply has no comparison.

And when he crossed the finish line at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix to clinch his seventh MotoGP championship, the eruption of emotion—a combination of tears and screams of complete release—was a celebration for the ages.

“I mean the explosion I had inside of me is something that I cannot explain in our words,” he tells Sports Illustrated. “It’s just, I felt empty, just when I crossed the line… and this, I think, was the emotion created by all that passed during that four years. I mean, it was a nightmare.”

For the unfamiliar, such an emotional reaction might seem out of place for one of the most successful figures across the world of motorsports. Between Márquez’s debut in 2008 and ‘19, the Cervera, Spain, native won eight championships across the various classes of racing, including six MotoGP (the sport’s most elite class) titles in seven years. Márquez instantly became known among the likes of Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostinti as one of the best to ever climb onto a bike.

But injuries derailed what could have become one of the most dominant, and prolonged, runs ever seen in motorcycle racing. And when those injuries come after falling off a vehicle that’s traveling at more than 200 mph, the damage can be catastrophic.

Between the start of the 2019 season and the end of the ‘24 campaign, Márquez crashed 132 times during race weekends. One-hundred and thirty-two. One body can only take so much punishment.

The injuries were debilitating and the recoveries were anything but linear. A broken humerus, and three subsequent surgeries, in his right arm knocked him out for the year just one race into the 2020 season. The following year, a concussion resulted in a second bout with diplopia, or double vision. In ‘22, another diagnosis of diplopia was followed by a fourth surgery on his right humerus. A lack of consistent time on track led to inconsistent results and by far the worst results of Márquez’s career—seventh in ‘21, 13th in ‘22 and 14th in ‘23.

Something needed to change, but Márquez was (understandably) shaken. The years of injuries and constant recovery battles were taking a mental toll.

“There was one point that I said, ‘Okay, stop my career. I’ve achieved enough, and it’s done,’” he admits. “Because I had doubts on myself. I was thinking that I was not fast enough to come back.”

Márquez, 33, gives credit to his family and tight-knit personal team for keeping him in the sport. He began to regain confidence at the start of the 2023 season, but again fell and was injured—this time a broken rib. So he boiled down his options to a single choice: finish out his contract with Honda, the team he’d spent his entire MotoGP career with, and retire, or find the fastest bike on the grid and see if he was still capable of competing for a championship.

Márquez opted for the latter, but his options were limited. He believed the best opportunity would be on the back of a Ducati, but the only available Ducati bike was at Gresini Racing. Gresini is a satellite team, meaning it leases bikes from the “factory” Ducati team, which can put riders at a team like Gresini at somewhat of a disadvantage. Though satellite teams now are given the latest models and technologies from the factory provider, it’s still difficult for satellite riders to get bikes tailored specifically to their tastes. The move also came with a steep pay cut—not a dealbreaker for one of the highest compensated riders in MotoGP, but a sign of just how far off track Márquez’s career had become.

Marc Márquez still believes he can win a championship despite the many setbacks. — Marc Márquez (left) still believes he can win a championship despite the many setbacks. | MotoGP

But Marc had a reason other than his insight into the Ducati’s potential to place his faith in Gresini: his brother Alex.

Alex Márquez, four years Marc’s junior, saw every moment of his brother’s darkest times. The pair have been close since their days in Cervera and lived together during much of Marc’s recovery from his run of injuries the past few years.

They’re also fierce competitors when on their bikes. After one year at Gresini, in which he finished third in the standings, Marc joined the Ducati factory team—a validation that he still had the skill to compete for championships after the series of injuries. The result was a dominant 2025 that featured 11 wins and 15 podiums in his first 18 starts.

His toughest competition? Alex, who remained at Gresini and pushed Marc every week.

“We are like brothers, but best friends,” Marc says. “What we did this season [in 2025], that we had a very similar level, [there] was like two options: create some tension or be closer than ever. And we chose to be closer than ever.”

One of the lasting images from the season came during Marc’s emotional ride around the track in Motegi, Japan, when Alex rode up alongside his brother and consoled him after the championship clinching race. Marc admitted that he was so overcome with emotion that he couldn’t remember what Alex said to him but he did explain why the win meant so much to his brother: “He feels the emotion because he knows how I suffer.”

Given what Marc Márquez had to endure, the rest of the 2025 season should have been defined by what he had accomplished. Four races remained on the calender—all chances for the “Ant of Cervera” to cement the year as the most dominant MotoGP season on record.

And yet, in a cruel twist of fate, the same misfortune that plagued the seven-time world champion during his desert of titles from 2019 to ‘24 struck. A crash with Aprilia Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi at the Indonesian Grand Prix left Márquez with a fractured shoulder, bringing about an “unexpected” end to a joyous season.

“After winning the championship, I just tried to minimize the risk, but the racing is racing and accidents with other riders can happen,” he says.

That’s an attitude Márquez has had to take—a sort of things just happen approach. But in the world outside of motorcycle racing, the “things that happen” are rarely an immobile arm and the loss of nearly seven pounds of muscle.

Yet none of it has dampened Márquez’s drive, or desire to compete. He no longer seems to consider walking away from riding as an option and he hardly lets himself consider what the legacy of last year’s comeback will be.

“I want to have the same ambition, and I want to have the same intensity, and I want to ride in the same way. The good athletes have talent and are working, but the best athletes, they are living for their sport…” he says. “It’s like you’re living in the present, but you’re thinking already about the next race… You’re always thinking about the future. I think when I retire someday, then I will think about the past. But we are always [thinking] forward.”

The latest injury has put Márquez on the back foot going into 2026. He missed testing in Valencia late last year, a period typically used to make tweaks to the bike’s setup for next season. When he did get back on his Ducati, he crashed multiple times in a test just days before the season opener in Thailand on March 1.

But does he think he can win a championship—even after another injury, another setback and with the exhaustion of the comeback still lingering over him?

“Yes,” he says, without hesitation.

“I mean, it will be difficult, always,” he continues, still capable of downplaying his chances even after what transpired in 2025. “I approach a season like everything reset and it’s difficult. And I respect my opponents, but I know that there will be three, four opponents with very good skills that they will push a lot from the beginning. One of them will be my brother. But you know, we are the current world champion, so we have the pressure, and we need to fight for the championship, then we’ll see if we can get it.”

So long as that’s Marquez’s mentality, last season made clear that he can never be ruled out. The comeback may be complete but his story is far from finished.