"NO ONE KNOWS HOW MUCH HE HAS CRIED" - INTERVIEW WITH JOSE LUIS MARTINEZ
by oriol puigdemont || 28th September 2025 || MotoGP Motegi 2025
Jose Luis Martinez, Marc Marquezâs assistant and confidant, reveals the keys to one of the most epic comebacks in sports history â one that almost never happened. âWhen we came back from Lombok, he told me he was done, that he couldnât go on,â 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, MartĂnez, 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, Martinezâs 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 #93 - 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, Marcâs brother, and Gemma, his partner, one of the most influential figures in his decisions.
It seems almost impossible that a single race could represent one of the championshipâs 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.
âNo one knows how much Marc has cried to get back to this moment,â 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. âI think in certain situations, thereâs not much you can say to someone whoâs suffering. I simply stayed by his side, so he could see I was there,â Martinez adds.
He recalls one particularly harsh episode after returning from Lombok in 2022, where Marquez didnât race due to a crash that reignited his double vision.
âHe told me he couldnât 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.â From that episode emerged a phrase that has resonated in the riderâs inner circle ever since: âTomorrow is Monday, and the sun will rise again.â
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 sportâs all-time greats. After much deliberation and consulting his âcore group,â 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.
âWe used to joke with Jose [Carrion, Alex Marquezâs crew chief] about Marc because we couldnât understand how someone with all heâd won could still have doubts about himself,â 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. âAs 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,â Martinez adds.
âWhen he makes a mistake, he punishes himself too much.â 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, Martinez points out, âOne thing I donât like about him, and Iâve 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.â
âThe best Marc shows up when the pressure is highest.â 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. âPressure is what pushes him to reach his best, to focus and motivate himself more. In the races where heâs been most challenged, heâs performed the best. Thatâs when I know everything will be fine,â Martinez concludes.
I will be annoying for a moment, likely for me to be this days lol, just have to take something off my chest and then I will return to work on Marc poster:
Going under posts celebrating Pecco race victory saying "Pecco won because Marc wasn't trying so hard" is not really that good of a look, it makes who is commenting a bitter little man.
Like Marc just won a championship after years of hardships and sacrifices and you are going to comment under his teammate celebratory post because you want what? To lick some type of imaginary wound? Really?
Go celebrate, go cry, go be happy for your champion because saying "Pecco won because Marc let him" is not going to make Marc seem like a magnanimous king but like an arrogant prick wo underestimate his opponents, a thing that Marc is not.
I know it's just a minuscule part of the whole group of fans it's just so frustrating seeing it happening, especially after the season that pecco had til now aaaaaaah!
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