Marquez, the Qatar rule: if he is in the top-4 then he becomes champion

Debut in Ducati

Numbers are just numbers – especially those in statistics – but sometimes they say something more and can try to suggest some trend. In MotoGP there are certain numbers, referring to the only track on which it has raced so far this season, which could provide some indication especially regarding the great special observation of 2024: Marc Marquez.

Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin picked up where they left off last year, challenging each other on the track between Sprint and GP and the arrival of a terrible rookie like Pedro Acosta immediately generated interest. But like it or notThe center of attention is always Marquez, even more so this year, after transition from the official Honda team to the customer Ducati – in 2023 version – managed by the Gresini team.

The first four place rule

In Qatar, Marquez made himself noticed, without exaggerating: he battled for the top positions, finishing the GP in fourth place, but has never really worried Pecco Bagnaia for the victory and gave the impression of being – at least for now – a step below compared to the two great rivals of 2023. But then the numbers arrive, which say something more: the Lusail circuit has in fact never been the favorite playground of Marquez, who won only once in the desert in MotoGP, in 2014, in a start to the championship in which he managed to collect ten consecutive victories.

But when in Qatar he crossed the finish line in the top four positionsthat's it then the title has always, without fail, arrived at the end of the year. It happened in 125, in Moto 2 and then in the premier class: eight top-4s in Qatar, eight world titles. The only other fourth place came in 2017, when the championship victory then came in the last race of the season, in Valencia, winning the duel with Andrea Dovizioso. In the golden era of cabroncito – from 2013 to 2019 – the only year without a title was the infamous 2015 and – coincidentally – in the Qatar GP Marquez was fifth. Numbers, just numbers, which however could send a shiver down the spine of Bagnaia, Martin and all the other rivals.