Which rider won the 2013 MotoGP title as a Repsol Honda rookie?

Marc Márquez won the 2013 MotoGP title as a Repsol Honda rookie.

Márquez entered MotoGP after winning the 2012 Moto2 championship and joined the factory Repsol Honda team for his debut premier-class season. A rule change allowed a rookie to race directly for a factory team, opening the door for his promotion alongside Dani Pedrosa.

His 2013 campaign quickly became historic. He won the Grand Prix of the Americas in only his second MotoGP race, becoming the youngest premier-class race winner. Across the season, he battled Jorge Lorenzo and Pedrosa before securing the championship with a third-place finish at Valencia.

Márquez became the youngest MotoGP champion and the first rookie since Kenny Roberts in 1978 to win the premier-class title in his debut season. A common mix-up is confusing the riders’ championships with the manufacturers’ championship: Honda also won the constructors’ title, but Márquez won the riders’ crown.