With the rumor swirling that Pol Espargaro may leave KTM to join Marc Marquez as his teammate at Repsol Honda next year, we thought it worthwhile to gather a few YouTube videos highlighting the rivalry between these two Spaniards that began when they were children.
Marquez, of course, has had the more successful career overall, while Espargaro has a single World title from 2013 (Moto2). Nevertheless, when on anything close to equal equipment, there has been plenty of close racing. One example is the 2012 Moto2 championship series. In 2012, Espargaro switched to a Kalex chassis largely competitive with the bike piloted by Marquez that year.
The two riders “traded paint” more than once in 2012 (including at the Portugal race highlighted in this video), but there was a collision between them at Catalunya that was pivotal in Marquez gaining the title that year. In short, the result was Espargaro crashing out of the race, while Marquez reached the podium (described in one of the two videos below).
Have a look:
Cute little tykes when they were little. Man they have both been road racing their entire lives.
Will be interesting how it works out with HRC.