Marquez still suffers from his injury, but can win another MotoGP title

Former MotoGP star Jorge Lorenzo believes Marc Marquez will still be “burdened” by his old arm injury in 2024, but remains confident he can add a seventh premier class title to his tally.

Three-time MotoGP champion Lorenzo, now a TV pundit for Spanish broadcaster DAZN, says he noticed that Marquez was still suffering from the arm he broke in a terrible accident at the Spanish Grand Prix four years ago.

Marquez was taking part in the delayed 2020 season opener when he suffered a massive highside at Turn 3 and landed hard on the ground. The injury sustained in the crash led to a lengthy injury layoff for the then Honda rider. Between 2020 and 2022, he had to undergo a total of four operations before he was fully fit and unrestricted on a MotoGP bike.

While that career-changing accident is now a thing of the past as Marquez has regained his form, his former teammate Lorenzo believes he is still unable to reach his full potential due to the aftermath of the accident.

“During some braking operations [zones] you can see that the injury is weighing on him,” Lorenzo told DAZN. “All this together means that a champion like Marc Marquez with the supposedly best bike – even if it is not the new one – still does not win [races].”

Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez in 2022

A move to the Gresini team on a year-old Ducati has allowed Marquez to return to the front of the field in 2024. After last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, he sits in a solid fourth place in the championship with 192 points, having finished on the podium four times so far this year.

However, a victory remained elusive as the 2024 season has so far been dominated by Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin on the latest Ducati GP24.

Lorenzo is not sure whether Marquez would be leading the title fight at this point in the year if he were riding the same equipment as Ducati factory rider Bagnaia or Pramac star Martin.

“Maybe he would have won with the 2024 bike. Is it possible that he would lead the world championship? I don't know,” he said.

“Before this injury, he was so far ahead of his rivals on a technical level in 2019 – he was far superior to many. Not only in terms of titles, but also on a technical and physical level.

“[After his Ducati move]people thought of the rule of three: the best rider with the best bike will win [the year].

“Even I said he would win the championship. That he wouldn't surpass everything. [the season]but that he would win the championship.

“And so far he still has [hasn’t achieved] all the victories. He fought for victories, he got podiums, but he didn't win, and he's Marc Marquez.”

Due to his impressive adaptation to the GP23, Marquez has earned a move to the Ducati factory team in 2025, where he will compete directly against two-time champion Bagnaia.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team.

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

While the Italian has increasingly established himself as the man to beat in MotoGP, Lorenzo believes Marquez can win another championship and draw level with rival Valentino Rossi on the list of riders with the most titles in the premier class.

“The injury in Jerez 2020 is taking a physical toll on him,” he said.[But] We have seen great champions like Mick Doohan win four world championships by virtually one and a half legs.

“I don’t think we’ve seen Marc Marquez’s last title yet, maybe, but it won’t be easy for him to win another championship because he has two young riders [in front of him].

“Now Jorge Martin is moving to Aprilia, but he has Pecco Bagnaia, who is younger than him, very fast and almost perfect.”