How will Giacomo Agostini react if Marc Marquez beats his all time record?
Giacomo Agostini weighs in as Marc Marquez closes in on all-time MotoGP records.
Marc Marquez’s 90th grand prix victory in last Sunday’s Argentine MotoGP means only two riders remain ahead of him on the all-time win list: Valentino Rossi (115) and Giacomo Agostini (122).
But for how much longer?
With 22 grand prix races per season, Marquez could theoretically surpass both Italian legends by the end of his two-year Ducati Lenovo contract.
Agostini: “I Certainly Don’t Wish Him to Succeed!”
Asked how he would feel if Marquez overtook his record, Agostini said in an interview with La Repubblica: “I certainly don’t wish him to succeed!”
“I wouldn’t be happy at all, but I would congratulate him. He deserves it.”
Beyond race wins, Marquez could also match Rossi’s seven MotoGP titles and nine world championships across all classes by the end of this season.
“This year he is aiming to win his ninth world championship and reach Rossi,” Agostini acknowledged.
“If he succeeds, his next goal will be his tenth: He won’t think about anything else. But we would all do the same. Winning is great.”
A tenth title would make Marquez the most successful rider of the modern era, with Agostini’s 15 world championships from the 1960s and ‘70s, when riders often competed in multiple classes, unlikely to ever be matched.
Angel Nieto, whose 90-win tally Marquez equalled in Argentina, is second on that list with 13 world titles.
What About Bagnaia?
Marquez has been unbeaten in two grand prix weekends since joining Ducati Lenovo, while team-mate Francesco Bagnaia has yet to outpace him in any session this year.
And Agostini doesn’t expect the Spaniard to ease up anytime soon.
“If it were up to him, he’d win all 44 races on the schedule [including Sprints] without even leaving the crumbs. He will try, you can bet on it. In his place, you would do the same.”
But what about Ducati’s double champion Bagnaia?
“You don’t win two titles by accident,” Agostini said.
“Pecco prefers to do things calmly, he wants everything under his control. Like him, I was meticulous. I had great sensitivity in my riding and wanted to control the smallest details.
“Mike Hailwood, on the other hand - you could give him any bike, and he would immediately go very fast. Incredible.
"If we had swapped bikes just before the race, he would have done the same time on my bike, but I would have been a second slower on his.”
Marquez will target a 91st grand prix win at COTA next weekend, one of his most successful circuits.
