MotoGP champion: Marc Marquez is the 'final boss' of MotoGP

18:30, 16 Feb

Updated: 19:55, 16 Feb

byAndrew McLarney

Former Ducati World Champion Casey Stoner has weighed in on what he believes separates Marc Marquez from other riders in the premier class.

In a recent interview with Crash.net to highlight his role in the new Ride 6 video game, Stoner gave his thoughts on the reigning champion and hinted that there are weaknesses other riders have yet to exploit.

Everyone looked at him [Marquez] like a 'final boss'.

- Casey Stoner

"Marc did have a big weakness in the past that I don’t think anybody’s noticed and I still won’t say anything about it."

"But it was surprising that nobody was able to exploit it, I suppose, because everyone [looked at him] like ‘final boss’ and instead of figuring out what they need to do, what they need to improve in themselves, maybe how to race against Marc, they just kind of saw him as this incredibly difficult competitor."

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

He also highlighted Marc's tyre management as one of his big strengths and believes that this element often goes unnoticed by rivals and commentators.

"Nobody seems to understand what he’s doing in the races to preserve tyres and do all this sort of thing. They just see this one-speed Marc, where he plays a different card each week."

"But a very common theme I saw throughout [2025], that nobody picked up on enough, was how patient he was with the tyres."

Stoner, who won the 2007 MotoGP title with Ducati before repeating the feat again at Honda in 2011, never raced directly against Marquez, and many believe that the Australian's unique natural talent would have made for an excellent rivalry with the Spaniard.

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