Marc Marquez: The Save

Never has so much been at stake in a Marc Marquez miracle save.

When the Spaniard lost the front of his Repsol Honda at Turn 1 of the Valencia season finale, he was just seven laps away from securing his fourth MotoGP title.

The only way Marquez could lose the crown was if he failed to finish inside the top 11 and Andrea Dovizioso won the race.

Marquez's huge turn one moment could easily have ended with his RCV somersaulting through the gravel and Dovizioso being promoted to third, behind Johann Zarco and Dani Pedrosa, assuming team-mate Jorge Lorenzo would have let him past.

Instead Marquez somehow hung on, despite smoke pouring from his front Michelin, and rejoined in fifth place - while both Lorenzo and Dovizioso crashed out.

Of course, Marquez had no way of knowing the impending Ducati downfall at the time of his save, which Repsol Honda has now revealed some jaw dropping data for.

Marquez reached the end of the main straight and braked 30 metres later than usual. He took the corner at 153km/h, in third gear. When losing the front end, the front wheel slid for more than 50 metres and his lean angle reached 64º - but he did not go down.

“When I got to the corner I saw that I had entered too fast, but I thought ‘I’ll brake it and I’ll go in’, said Marquez. “But then, ‘boom!’ I supported my weight with my elbow!

"I used my elbow and knee as a level, and I think that with the help of the fans, I got the bike back up.”

Valencia was the latest in a growing line of gravity-defying moments by Marquez. Others include Brno 2014 and 2016, plus Turn 1 at Sepang this season.