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The pole position scored by Marquez yesterday marked the Spaniard's 63rd career pole. Two less than the record held by the man considered to be the greatest poleman of all time: Ayrton Senna, with 65. A number of first-place starts (statistics for which have only been recorded since the 70s) that Magic Marc shares with Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.
What separates these three champions is that Marquez is only 23 years of age and has competed in just 142 Grand Prix, which means he has started from pole in 44% of cases. Jorge Lorenzo is 29, has completed 242 Grand Prix, and has been on pole in 26% of those races.
Valentino Rossi, at 37, has clocked up 340 Grand Prix, has never been a phenomenal poleman and, of course, his numbers include those two unfortunate years in Ducati, so his statistic reveals he has started from pole in just 18.5% of races.
There's more though, and it concerning victories.
Marquez has 53 (37.3%) with 86 podiums (60.6%). Lorenzo 64 (26.4%) and 141 podiums (58,3%). The 114 wins by Rossi equate to 33.5% and his 215 podiums 63.2%.
Marquez' numbers are therefore incredible, although it would only be fair to make these calculations at the end of his career.
It should be noted that Marc, Jorge and Vale have a similar podium average, all three over 60%, and from when they started to battle each other - in a total of 64 races - they have won 87.5% of the time. Not half bad.
