Few riders know Marc Márquez within a MotoGP garage as well as Dani Pedrosa. The Castellar del Vallès native and the eight-time world champion were teammates in the Repsol Honda Team from 2013 to 2018, the year in which the ’26’ decided to end his racing career. He did so in quotes, as since 2019 he has been leading the KTM test team and has made several wildcards with the Austrian manufacturer.
Pedrosa gave an interview to ‘Motorsport’, in which he analyzed Marc Márquez’s signing with the official Ducati team starting in the 2025 season: “I was surprised when he said he was going to retire. In any case, the skill he has shown to turn things around is impressive. You have Jorge Martín who has done everything and more to deserve the official Ducati, I want to think that he couldn’t have done more”.
“I don’t know what weapons Márquez has used, nor what strategies were behind it; I don’t know. In any case, he went from being on the bike he had with official Honda to, in no time, being already on the factory bike that matters. And that is difficult“, adds the KTM rider.
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Analyzing the changes of ’93’ and those of Valentino Rossi throughout his career, Pedrosa points out that “in Rossi’s case, his moves were always made with a bit more heart and a bit more love; with a bit more affection for the brand, having that harmony with what he was doing. I think Marc Márquez is making this change by bulldozing everything in his way, crushing whatever is necessary”.
Furthermore, the ’26’ adds that “Marc has said: ‘I have to be in that place’. You can see it as a good thing, saying this guy wants to win no matter what and it honors what he is doing. And, in the same way, you can think the opposite. I don’t know how the issue with Red Bull -Márquez’s personal sponsor- will turn out, because we’ve seen the Honda issue is already in the past. There are many things in between that have accompanied you during this time, mechanics and all that. He preferred to have the winning bike rather than continue with all these relationships he has had for so many years. And, that, some people can see as a good thing and others can see as a bad thing”.
Finally, Pedrosa states that “in comparison with Valentino and those changes he made, I think he always did them more for what he felt in his heart than for choosing, no matter what, the winning bike“.