Jose Luis Martinez, Marc Marquez’s assistant and confidant, reveals the keys to one of the most epic comebacks in sports history – one that almost never happened. “When we came back from Lombok, he told me he was done, that he couldn’t go on,” Martinez recalls.
Martinez is much more than an assistant to the newly crowned MotoGP world champion. Unlike most garages, where team staff come and go, Marquez has kept him by his side for over 11 years. In 2015, Martinez, a former Spanish motocross champion (2011), set aside his own racing career to focus on training Marquez in off-road riding. Initially a sparring partner, Martinez’s close relationship with Marquez and his personality have made him one of the few voices the Ducati rider listens to closely.
