Former MotoGP star Jorge Lorenzo thinks Marc Marquez is still ‘weighed down’ by his old arm injury in 2024, but remains confident that he can add a seventh premier class title to his tally.
Now a TV pundit for Spanish broadcaster DAZN, three-time MotoGP champion Lorenzo says he has noticed how Marquez continues to be impacted by the arm he broke in a horrific crash 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 he sustained in the fall led to a prolonged injury layoff for the then-Honda rider, taking a total of four operations between 2020 and ‘22 before he could regain full fitness and not face any limitations on a MotoGP bike.
While that career-altering crash has now become a topic of the past as Marquez has regained form, his former team-mate Lorenzo believes he is still not able to ride at his 100% due to the lingering effects of the crash.
“In some braking [zones] you can see that the injury is weighing him down,” Lorenzo told DAZN. “All this added together means that a champion like Marc Marquez, with supposedly the best bike - even if it's not the new one - is still not winning [races].”
A move to the Gresini team on a year-old Ducati has allowed Marquez to fight near the sharp end of the pack again in 2024. Following last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, he sits a solid fourth in the championship on 192 points, having finished on the podium four times so far this year.
A victory, however, has remained elusive, with the 2024 season so far having been dominated by Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin on the latest-spec Ducati GP24.
Lorenzo is unsure if Marquez would be leading the title fight at this stage of the year, had he been on the same equipment as factory Ducati rider Bagnaia or Pramac ace Martin.
“Maybe he would have won with the 2024 bike. Is it possible that he would be leading the world championship? I don't know,” he said.
“He was so far ahead of his rivals on a technical level in 2019, before that injury - 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: best rider, with the best bike, they're going to sweep [the year].
“Even I said that he was going to win the championship. That he wasn't going to sweep [the season], but that he was going to win the championship.
“And so far he still [hasn't achieved] any victories. He's fought for victories, he's got podiums, but he hasn't won, and he's Marc Marquez.”
Marquez has earned a move to the factory Ducati squad in 2025 on the back of his impressive adaptation to the GP23, a move that will pit him directly against two-time champion Bagnaia.
While the Italian has steadily established himself as the man to beat in MotoGP, Lorenzo thinks Marquez can win another championship and equal his foe Valentino Rossi in the list of riders with the most premier class titles.
“That injury in Jerez 2020 is weighing him down physically,” he said. “[But] we have seen great champions, like Mick Doohan, win four world championships with practically one and a half legs.
“I don't think we've seen Marc Marquez's last title yet, possibly, but it's not going to be easy for him to win a championship again, because he has two young riders [in front of him].
“Now Jorge Martin is going to Aprilia, but he has Pecco Bagnaia, who is younger than him, very fast and almost perfect.”
