No one knows how much he has cried

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.

Despite often being in the background – a difficult feat considering the cameras are constantly on the Marquez – few are as well positioned as Martinez to detail the roadmap that has led his friend to stage perhaps the most remarkable comeback in sports history.

It is a six-year journey divided into two phases: the first, between 2020 and 2023, a true ordeal; the second, the last two seasons, a period of recovery and rebuilding. In both, tears were shed – the first for pain, frustration, and helplessness; the latter for absolute joy.

Through it all, Martinez has been there, alongside Alex Marquez, Marc’s brother, and Gemma, his partner, one of the most influential figures in his decisions.

The worst injury at his peak

It seems almost impossible that a single race could represent one of the championship’s most memorable displays of strength and also the doorway to an actual nightmare. That was the 2020 Spanish GP in Jerez, where Marquez executed a historic comeback only to crash and break his humerus. This marked the beginning of a three-year period in which he underwent four surgeries before he could ride with a manageable limitation in his right arm.

“No one knows how much Marc has cried to get back to this moment,” Martinez says, speaking from the Marquez office at Motegi before the Spaniard was crowned again.

In the darkest moments, the former motocross rider was always there, even if not always intervening. “I think in certain situations, there’s not much you can say to someone who’s suffering. I simply stayed by his side, so he could see I was there,” Martinez adds.

He recalls one particularly harsh episode after returning from Lombok in 2022, where Marquez didn’t race due to a crash that reignited his double vision.

“He told me he couldn’t take it anymore, that he wanted to quit. I just tried to calm him down, told him not to make decisions in the heat of the moment, and that we should go eat, calmly, once we got to Madrid.” From that episode emerged a phrase that has resonated in the rider’s inner circle ever since: “Tomorrow is Monday, and the sun will rise again.”

Leaving home and joining Gresini

The fourth surgery on his arm, performed in June 2022 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, allowed him to ride again without the rotation being an insurmountable physical obstacle.

With that hurdle cleared, the focus shifted to his bike, which had instilled doubts in one of the sport’s all-time greats. After much deliberation and consulting his “core group,” Marquez reached an agreement with Honda – his family since his MotoGP debut in 2013 – to join Gresini Racing. His sole intention was to see if he could compete with the fastest once more.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing, Frankie Carchedi, Gresini Racing crew chief

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“We used to joke with Jose [Carrion, Alex Marquez’s crew chief] about Marc because we couldn’t understand how someone with all he’d won could still have doubts about himself,” Martinez says.

Those doubts were fully dispelled after the final test of the season, remembered forever for the knowing smile Marc gave Frankie Carchedi, his new Gresini track engineer. “As soon as he got on the Ducati in that famous Valencia test, he saw something. Just remembering it gives me goosebumps. By mid-season, he had cleared his doubts. Seeing the technical disadvantage of his bike pushed him even more,” Martinez adds.

All in red

“When he makes a mistake, he punishes himself too much.” Once Ducati confirmed he would team up with Francesco Bagnaia in 2025 for the official structure in Mugello, Marquez set his sights on fighting for the crown again.

Few could push themselves harder, but many noticed that when he appeared at the February pre-season test in Malaysia, he was leaner—staff estimate he had lost over three kilos—and more focused than ever.

The level of excellence he demands from his team matches the standards he sets for himself. Yet, Martínez points out, “One thing I don’t like about him, and I’ve told him a thousand times, is that he punishes himself too much when he makes a mistake. I understand it drives him to do what he does and be who he is. But I suffer seeing it, and I try to convince him not to be so hard on himself.”

The king’s return

“The best Marc shows up when the pressure is highest.” Some athletes falter under pressure, but for Marquez, having almost no margin for error brings out his best. This year, he has dominated to the point of clinching the title five rounds early. “Pressure is what pushes him to reach his best, to focus and motivate himself more. In the races where he’s been most challenged, he’s performed the best. That’s when I know everything will be fine,” Martinez concludes.