Marc Marquez has been crowned MotoGP World Champion for a sixth time after powering to his eighth victory of the 2019 season in the Thailand MotoGP at Buriram with a dramatic last lap triumph.
The Spaniard came into the race needing to merely out-score his sole remaining title rival Andrea Dovizioso by two points in order to put the 2019 crown out of reach, Marquez easily completing his target after prevailing in a titanic tussle with Fabio Quartararo that was decided on the final corner
A tougher weekend than most for Marquez after a crash in Friday practice left him briefly hospitalised and another in qualifying saw him beaten to pole position by Quartararo, the Repsol Honda man was nonetheless inch-perfect come race day to quickly join the Frenchman in sprinting clear of the pack and leaving Dovizioso behind.
After stalking Quartararo for almost the entirety of the race, Marquez pushed on in the closing stages to slice past the Yamaha at Turn 2, before resisting a determined final corner effort by his rivals to slice back up the inside and clinch victory.
Marc Marquez lays claim to GOAT status with sixth title
Though few doubted Marquez would be beaten to the 2019 MotoGP title, even by his high standards it has been an extraordinary season for the 26-year-old.
In 15 races, Marquez has won eight times and finished second on five occasions, often just thousands of a second behind the winner. The only blot on his copybook this year was his DNF in Austin when he crashed out of the lead.
It means Marquez has won all-but-one MotoGP championship he has started since he made history by winning in his rookie season in 2013, putting him just a single title shy of Valentino Rossi’s seven premier class championships. In all, he has now won eighth World Championships in ten seasons.
What perhaps makes Marquez’s championship win so comprehensive is the way he has capitalised on the strengths of the Honda package, a machine that has proven a handful for Cal Crutchlow and especially Jorge Lorenzo.
