Why Is MotoGP Screwing Marc Marquez Out of His 9th World Championship?

As long as I've been watching MotoGP, we've had world champions. Actually, before I watched MotoGP, they had world champions. In fact, since its dawn, MotoGP has had world champions, and every champion celebrated every world championship they'd accumulated throughout all the series, giving them a new grand total to celebrate with each new title.

Now, on what's almost certainly the eve of Marc Marquez's ninth World Championship, that's all set to change.

The talk throughout Marquez's illustrious career was whether he could ever tie Valentino Rossi's nine world championship titles, but that conversation quickly changed during this season from "if" to "what round?". All he has to do is finish this weekend's racing at the Grand Prix of Japan three points ahead of his brother, and his ninth World Championship is in his hands, but he won't be allowed to celebrate it. All signs point to Marquez and broadcasters being forced to celebrate his seventh MotoGP/Premier Class title.

This, supposedly, is how Dorna wants things done going forward, and, supposedly, this decision was made before the start of the current season and before its purchase by Liberty Media was finalized. The problem is, no one seems to remember hearing about it or seeing it made public with any official announcement. Instead, the announcement is exploding into the racing world as Marquez is about to clinch this year's title—the title that would tie him with Rossi, and allow him to celebrate the number nine just as Rossi did.

Stay informed with our newsletter every weekday

 

back

Subscribe For more info, read our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use.

Speaking about celebrating his seventh world title for the second time, Marquez said, “The value of this championship inside of me is more than another one. In the end, the numbers is the same one. The career of a rider is different, in the end, numbers are numbers, [they] are not in my hands, but the most important [thing] is [to] increase that numbers. It doesn’t matter how.”

We have our theories behind why Dorna is making a move that's beyond strange, verging on suspect. That's why the editors at RideApart quickly convened together to talk about the controversial decision by the racing organization, as well as offer up a few theories (conspiratorial and otherwise) as to why the situation went down as it did.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts in the comments, and maybe we'll do more of these on other topics. 

What The Dorna?

Why Does Dorna Hate US MotoGP Fans So Much?

MotoGP’s Valencia Auction Is Tone-Deaf at Best, Borderline Sham at Worst