[MOTOGP – STUDIES] : Marc Marquez and his performances by circuit (2008-2024)

By now, I think we probably all know which circuits Marc Marquez is more comfortable on and which circuits will have him arrive to the press pen telling everyone to not expect too much of him. Are these names consistent with the results he’s achieved on said circuits? Let’s find out.

general notes

Sprints have their dedicated column for the detailed counts but they are accounted for with the rest of the races when I compare everything and talk about « races ».

In an ideal world, the data collecting would have involved every single result Marc has ever achieved but due to time decisions, this article will focus on the wins, the podiums and the DNFs.

A dash in a « wins » or « podiums » column means that Marc never raced there in the category associated with that column. A blank means that Marc raced there but didn’t get a win or a podium.

And obviously, that introduction is not very serious. The tracks where the Honda was good in the first part of Marc’s career are not the same tracks the Ducati is performing well on right now and that will have an influence on Marc’s opinion arriving somewhere. I will say, this was mostly born from Marc giving everyone low expectations for the last weekend in Barcelona when it is, in fact, a circuit where he has had 10 podiums in 16 races in the past. All fun and games, as usual.

results

wins

Circuit125cc winsMoto2 winsMotoGP winsSprints winsTotal winsRaces started% of wins
sachsenring128111669%
aragon16181457%
misano12582040%
cota771164%
assen12251631%
indianapolis235863%
motegi11351729%
phillip island1451729%
brno1341233%
le mans1341822%
barcelona-catalunya1231916%
jerez331619%
mugello11131817%
sepang1231520%
termas de rio hondo33650%
valencia1231323%
buriram22729%
estoril112540%
losail1121613%
silverstone1121414%
laguna seca111100%
buddh020%
donington park020%
mandalika040%
portimao060%
spielberg0100%
shanghai010%
Number of wins for each circuit and each category – Ranked by number of wins

% of wins amongst races started for each circuit

The circuit where Marc has been the most successful is Sachsenring, with a total of 11 wins across all categories, including 8 in 9 MotoGP races. The podium is completed by 3 circuits from 3 other countries : Aragon in Spain and Misano in Italy (8 wins each) and COTA in the USA (7 wins).

There is one circuit that Marc has always won after starting the race: Laguna Seca, where he only raced once, in 2013. After that, his highest % of wins has been achieved in Sachsenring (69%) where he only missed on the win in 3 occasions, both sprints in 2023 and 2024 and the race in 2024 where he finished P2.

COTA is close behind (64%), with a DNF in 2019, a P6 in 2022, a P2 in the 2024 sprint and a DNF in the 2024 race.

Indianapolis is almost at COTA’s level (63%). Marc didn’t get a win during his 3 125cc races there but he won both Moto2 races (2011 and 2012) and all three MotoGP races (2013 to 2015).

podiums

Circuit125cc podiumsMoto2 podiumsMotoGP podiumsSprints podiumsTotal podiumsRaces started% of podiums
sachsenring129121675%
motegi1281121771%
barcelona-catalunya1281121963%
misano128112055%
aragon271101471%
assen127101663%
jerez118101663%
phillip island125191753%
cota7181173%
brno2681267%
le mans115181844%
valencia16181362%
losail11571644%
mugello113161833%
sepang14161540%
indianapolis235863%
silverstone11351436%
termas de rio hondo33650%
spielberg331030%
buriram22729%
estoril112540%
portimao22633%
laguna seca111100%
buddh11250%
donington park11250%
mandalika11425%
shanghai010%
% of podiums amongst races started for each circuit – Ranked by number of podiums

% of podiums amongst races started for each circuit

When it comes to podiums, Sachsenring is still on top (the P2 in 2024 added to his 11 wins) but it’s joined by two circuits that I didn’t mention in the wins department: Motegi and Barcelona, also with 12 podiums and in both cases with podiums all seasons from 2010 to 2019 (except in 2015) and then 2023 and 2024 for Motegi and both races in 2024 for Barcelona.

To find Misano and Aragon, we have to move to the second step of the podium for Misano (11 podiums) and the third step for Aragon (10 podiums). There are two other circuits where Marc has scored 10 podiums so far in his career: Assen and Jerez.

In terms of podiums conversions, Laguna Seca is obviously still first at 100%. Then, we find 4 circuits above the 70% mark: Sachsenring (75%, 12 podiums in 16 races), COTA (73%, 8 podiums in 11 races), Aragon (71%, 10 podiums in 14 races) and Motegi (12 podiums in 17 races).

wins versus podiums

As you might have noticed in the previous paragraphs, the top of the lists don’t exactly look alike. Let’s look at the proportion of wins amongst Marc’s podiums, for each track.

CircuitWinsPodiums% of wins
amongst podiums
indianapolis55100,0%
termas de rio hondo33100,0%
estoril22100,0%
buriram22100,0%
laguna seca11100,0%
sachsenring111291,7%
cota7887,5%
aragon81080,0%
misano81172,7%
phillip island5955,6%
assen51050,0%
brno4850,0%
le mans4850,0%
sepang3650,0%
mugello3650,0%
motegi51241,7%
silverstone2540,0%
valencia3837,5%
jerez31030,0%
losail2728,6%
barcelona-catalunya31225,0%
spielberg030,0%
portimao020,0%
donington park010,0%
buddh010,0%
mandalika010,0%
shanghai000,0%
% of wins amongst podiums for each circuit

In the table above, we can identify a couple of categories:

  • Circuits where Marc either a) win or b) doesn’t get on the podium at all: Indianapolis, Termas de Rio Hondo, Buriram, Estoril and Laguna Seca,
  • Circuits where Marc has come close to the win but failed on very few occasions: Sachsenring, Aragon, COTA;
  • Circuits where Marc is very good at finishing on the podium but hardly on the first step: Jerez, Losail, Barcelona;
  • Circuits where Marc has podiumed but never won: Spielberg, Portimao, Donington Park, Buddh and Mandalika.

on anticlockwise circuits

We all know about Marc’s preference / comfort with anti-clockwise circuits and left turns, in general. A look at how this translates into his results was mandatory.

CircuitTurning direction% of left turnsNumber of winsNumber of podiums
sachsenringanticlockwise77%1112
indianapolisanticlockwise64%55
valenciaanticlockwise64%38
aragonanticlockwise59%810
laguna secaanticlockwise58%11
phillip islandanticlockwise58%59
cotaanticlockwise55%78
shanghaiclockwise50%00
donington parkclockwise45%01
silverstoneclockwise44%25
motegiclockwise43%512
barcelona-catalunyaclockwise43%312
brnoclockwise43%48
buriramclockwise42%22
mugelloclockwise40%36
portimaoclockwise40%02
misanoclockwise38%811
jerezclockwise38%310
losailclockwise38%27
buddhclockwise38%01
le mansclockwise36%48
termas de rio hondoclockwise36%33
mandalikaclockwise35%01
assenclockwise33%510
sepangclockwise33%36
estorilclockwise31%22
spielbergclockwise27%03
Wins & Podiums for each circuit – Ranked by % of left turns

For all 7 anticlockwise circuits that Marc has raced, he either has a 100% podiums to win ratio (and excellent wins %, 100% for Laguna Seca and 63% for Indianapolis with 5 wins in 8 races) or at least 8 podiums. In Valencia and Phillip Island it’s been a little more complicated to convert the podiums into wins but things have been going well in that regard in Sachsenring, Aragon and COTA.

The two clockwise circuits with (almost) an even distribution of left and right turns (Shanghai right in the middle, Donington Park with 45% of left turns) might not look extraordinary in this table but the numbers are not bad when you consider that Marc only raced in Shanghai once in his rookie 125cc season (it was his second race in the category and he finished P12, in the points) and he only raced in Donington Park twice, in 2008 for his first 125cc podium (in his 6th race) and in 2009.

On the lower end of the table, Assen and Le Mans are two circuits where Marc has encountered success (10 and 8 podiums respectively) despite the fact that they have about two rights turn for every left turn.

% of podiums versus % of left turns

racing & finishing

From 2008 to 2024, Marc raced on 27 different tracks, for a total of 46 125cc races, 32 Moto2 races, 189 MotoGP races and 37 sprints. The repartition by circuit went as follows in the next table.

Circuit125cc
races
Moto2
races
MotoGP
races
SprintsTotal
misano3212320
barcelona-catalunya3211319
le mans3211218
mugello3211218
motegi3210217
phillip island3210217
assen329216
jerez2211116
losail2210216
sachsenring329216
sepang2110215
aragon1210114
silverstone129214
valencia219113
brno327012
cota0010111
spielberg008210
indianapolis32308
buriram00527
portimao00426
termas de rio hondo00606
estoril32005
mandalika00224
buddh00112
donington park20002
laguna seca00101
shanghai10001
Totals463218937304
Number of races started at each track for each category

The countries he has started the most races in are Spain (62 starts across 4 circuits), Italy (38 starts across 2 circuits) and the USA (20 starts across 3 circuits).

Now, how good as he been at finishing the races at the circuits listed above? Let’s see.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, a dash means that no race was started in that category at that circuit (e.g. Marc never raced in Mandalika in 125cc or Moto2, nor did he race any sprint in Brno so far).

Circuit125cc DNFsMoto2 DNFsMotoGP DNFsSprints DNFsDNFs total
le mans2136
silverstone1416
mugello44
phillip island33
jerez1113
sepang1113
aragon123
valencia33
mandalika213
barcelona-catalunya22
assen112
losail112
cota22
termas de rio hondo22
motegi11
brno11
spielberg11
portimao11
estoril11
misano0
sachsenring0
indianapolis0
buriram0
buddh0
donington park0
laguna seca0
shanghai0
Totals10530449
Number of DNFs at each track for each category

Le Mans, Silverstone and Mugello appear as the circuits where Marc has DNFed the most. They also happen to be circuits where he has started a lot of races. To get a better sense of how good at finishing at each circuit Marc has been so far, we need to look at the % of races finishes.

CircuitDNFsRaces started% of races finished
amongst races started
misano020100%
sachsenring016100%
indianapolis08100%
buriram07100%
buddh02100%
donington park02100%
laguna seca01100%
shanghai01100%
motegi11794%
brno11292%
spielberg11090%
barcelona-catalunya21989%
assen21688%
losail21688%
portimao1683%
cota21182%
jerez31681%
sepang31580%
estoril1580%
aragon31479%
mugello41878%
valencia31377%
phillip island*31776%
le mans61867%
termas de rio hondo2667%
silverstone61457%
mandalika3425%
Totals4930484%
% of races finished amongst races started – All circuits

*Marc only has 3 DNFs in 17 races in Phillip Island (all in MotoGP) but for the % of races finished, I also had to take into account his DSQ from 2013.

There are 8 circuits where Marc has always seen the finish line after starting there: Misano, Sachsenring, Indianapolis, Buriram, Buddh, Donington Park, Laguna Seca and Shanghai.

We can find 5 circuits that Marc only DNFed once, three of them were he raced at least 10 times (Motegi, Brno, Spielberg) and two where he raced 5 (Estoril) and 6 times (Portimao).

On the lower end, Marc has been particularly unlucky in Mandalika. In 2023, he crashed in both the sprint and the race. In 2024, he got a podium in the sprint but his engine caught on fire on Sunday. Silverstone is the next circuit where Marc hasn’t been lucky, seeing the finish line a little over half of the time (on 8 occasions out of 14 starts).

If you want to read a little more on the details of Marc’s MotoGP DNFs, I wrote an X thread about it, back in October. The data was gathered after the round in Indonesia but Marc has finished every race after that in the 2024 season so everything said is still valid now.

focus on MotoGP

To finish, I wanted to include a quick focus on Marc’s MotoGP numbers, only taking into account what happened on Sundays.

There are 3 circuits that Marc raced in either 125cc or Moto2 but didn’t race in MotoGP: Shanghai, Donington Park and Estoril. Therefore they have been removed from the tables of this section.

On the contrary, there are 8 circuits that Marc has only raced in MotoGP: COTA, Laguna Seca, Termas de Rio Hondo, Spielberg, Buriram, Portimao, Mandalika, Buddh.

CircuitMotoGP racesMotoGP podiums% of podiums amongst races startedMotoGP wins% of wins amongst races started
indianapolis33100%3100%
laguna seca11100%1100%
sachsenring99100%889%
brno7686%343%
motegi10880%330%
assen9778%222%
barcelona-catalunya11873%218%
jerez11873%327%
aragon10770%660%
cota10770%770%
misano12867%542%
valencia9667%222%
losail10550%110%
phillip island10550%440%
termas de rio hondo6350%350%
le mans11545%327%
buriram5240%240%
sepang10440%220%
spielberg8338%0%
silverstone9333%111%
mugello11327%19%
buddh10%0%
mandalika20%0%
portimao40%0%
% of wins & podiums at each circuit – Ranked by % of podiums

Understandably, we mostly find the same circuits at the same spots. One circuit coming up higher is Brno where Marc only missed on the podium once in MotoGP while he never had one in 125cc (3 races) and had one in both Moto2 races.

CircuitMotoGP racesMotoGP DNFs% of races finished amongst races started
indianapolis30100,0%
laguna seca10100,0%
sachsenring90100,0%
brno70100,0%
motegi100100,0%
assen90100,0%
misano120100,0%
losail100100,0%
buriram50100,0%
spielberg80100,0%
buddh10100,0%
jerez11190,9%
sepang10190,0%
barcelona-catalunya11281,8%
aragon10280,0%
cota10280,0%
portimao4175,0%
le mans11372,7%
valencia9366,7%
termas de rio hondo6266,7%
mugello11463,6%
phillip island103*60%
silverstone9455,6%
mandalika220,0%
% of races finished in MotoGP for each circuit

*As mentioned above, we have to account for Marc’s DSQ in 2013, meaning that amongst the 10 races he started in Phillip Island, he finished 6 (being on the podium 5 times, missing on the win only in 2022 with his P2), DNFed 3 (2014, 2016 and 2018) and DSQed one (2013).

Amongst the 24 circuits Marc has raced in MotoGP, there are 11 of them where he has always crossed the finish line on Sunday. He’s yet to do so in Mandalika.

And if we take away the DNFs, here is how the first table of that section looks.

CircuitMotoGP races finishedMotoGP winsMotoGP podiums% of podiums
amongst races finished
indianapolis333100,0%
laguna seca111100,0%
sachsenring989100,0%
valencia626100,0%
barcelona-catalunya92888,9%
aragon86787,5%
cota87787,5%
brno73685,7%
phillip island64583,3%
jerez103880,0%
motegi103880,0%
assen92777,8%
termas de rio hondo43375,0%
misano125866,7%
le mans83562,5%
silverstone51360,0%
losail101550,0%
sepang92444,4%
mugello71342,9%
buriram52240,0%
spielberg8337,5%
buddh10,0%
portimao30,0%
% of podiums amongst races finished in MotoGP

Valencia makes a jump to join Indianapolis, Sachsenring and Laguna Seca at the top. Besides the 3 DNFs he suffered there (2018, 2022 and 2023), Marc always finished on the podium when crossing the finish line in MotoGP.

bonus

I obviously have to select the content I put in the columns of the tables to make them readable in the article but I know it’s also nice to have an overall look as well. Here under you’ll find the detailed spreadsheets I used to write this article.

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I’m Maïna

French motorsports enthusiast who happens to be a bit of data & statistics enjoyer every now and then. MotoGP & F1 content for now, hopefully more later when I’ve learned about other series. I also make digital motorsports journals (check my Etsy).

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