Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V) won the 2013 MotoGP World Championship in superb style at Valencia on Sunday when he finished the season finale in third place. The result secured him a historic crown – he is now the youngest premier-class king in history – by four points from Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) at the end of a thrilling and fascinating championship campaign. Marquez’s brilliance gives Honda its 16th riders’ title, three decades after its first premier-class crown won by Freddie Spencer in 1983.

The 20-year-old’s MotoGP title success is the crowning achievement of what is already a stellar career. After winning the 2010 125 World Championship and the 2012 Moto2 world title, the super-talented youngster graduated to MotoGP at the start of this year, looking to serve his apprenticeship in the world’s fastest, toughest motorcycle racing series. However, Marquez never for a moment looked like a rookie. The Spanish prodigy scored a podium finish first time out at Qatar in April, then two weeks later dominated the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas, where he became the youngest-ever rider to start a premier-class race from pole position and the youngest to take victory in a category that’s now dominated by awesome 250hp motorcycles that reach 345km/h.

Marquez took both those records from another Honda hero, American genius Spencer, who had held the youngest pole record since the 1982 Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama, Spain, and the youngest winner record since the Belgium GP at Spa a few months later.

Marc’s career statistics speak for themselves. He has ridden 18 MotoGP races, taking podiums in 16, including six wins, plus nine pole positions and 11 fastest laps. In Moto2 he won 16 races from 32 starts – an amazing 50 per cent success rate – plus a further nine podiums and 14 pole positions. When he was a Grand Prix beginner in the 125 category he took ten wins and 14 poles from 42 starts.

By securing the title at the age of 20 years and 266 days – Marquez comfortably beat’s Spencer’s record. The American was 21 years and 258 days when he won the 500 world title at Imola, Italy, on 4 September 1983.

via MotoGP