Opening Odds to Win 2020 MotoGP World Championship – Marquez Heavily Favored

• Marc Marquez is looking for his fifth successive MotoGP title and is -150 favorite to get it
• Last year, the Spanish rider was given -175 opening odds to defend his world crown. Are there reasons to believe that Marquez can be dethroned?
• All of the MotoGP odds for the 2020 season are listed below

Marc Marquez didn’t just defend his MotoGP title in 2019. The Spanish rider rewrote the record book.

Marquez won a record 12 races during the 19-race season. He also established single-season marks for points (420) and podium finishes (18).

He captured his fourth championship in a row, and sixth in seven seasons.

Yet as the 2020 campaign sets to unfold with the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix on March 8th, the oddsmakers aren’t as sold on Marquez as they were a year ago.

Oddsmakers list Marquez as the -150 favorite to win the 2020 MotoGP world title. In 2019, he opened at odds of -175 to retain his championship.

2020 MotoGP Odds

Odds taken Feb. 26th

Jorge Lorenzo, the 2015 MotoGP world champion, and the only rider other than Marquez to win the title since 2013, won’t be a threat this season. He announced his retirement following the 2019 campaign.

Marquez of Excellence

Only recently turned 27 earlier this month, Marquez is already assembling an unparalleled career in the sport. He’s won eight Grand Prix world championships. Six of those titles are in the premier MotoGP division. All were earned while racing for the Honda factory team.

Recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, the 2019 campaign began slowly for Marquez. He failed to win the pole, the race, or even turn the fastest lap as the season opened in Qatar.

Marc Márquez in 2019 is a beast we’ve never seen before 🤯

First or second in every race apart from one DNF…

Even the race he didn’t finish he was winning at a canter 💀 pic.twitter.com/0zXKnGO3NZ

— MotoGP on TNT Sports (@motogpontnt) February 17, 2020

Things quickly returned to normal for him. Marquez won three of the next four races and four of the next five poles. He also closed the season powerfully. The Spanish star won five races in a row and sixth of the last seven events as the year came to a close.

It was his ninth win of the season, in the Thailand Grand Prix, that clinched the latest world title for Marquez.

Marquez finished second in six other races. In his one DNF, he was leading the Grand Prix of the Americas when he crashed.

MotoGP Closer Than It Looks

In raw numbers, Marquez was dominant in 2019. But scratch below the surface and you’ll see that there is reasonable cause for the decline in his odds to win this season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC_Dhj032Pk

While he did win over 63% of the races, what that total doesn’t show is how many close calls there were at the finish line. The level of competition in MotoGP is emphasized by the fact that the outcome of seven races – Qatar, Italy, Austria, Britain, San Marino, Thailand and Australia – were determined by last-lap passes.

Value Bets to Consider

Three other riders last season managed to post a pair of victories on the circuit. Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso (+900) won at Qatar and Austria. Maverick Vinales (+450) took the Dutch and Malaysian races. Alex Rins (+1400) went to the winner’s circle at the GP of the Americas and in Britain.

Yamaha’s Vinales found himself standing on the podium seven times but he also retired from four races. Dovizioso (269) was a distant second to Marquez in points. He managed nine podium finishes but was winless over the last eight races of the season.

Other than his two wins, Spaniard Rins managed just one other podium appearance aboard his Suzuki, a second in his home country’s race.

Another Marquez to Watch

Lorenzo’s retirement means that for the third straight season, Marquez has a new teammate on the Repsol Honda squad. But it’s someone he knows quite well.

That’s because his younger brother Alex Marquez has made the move to MotoGP. He won the Moto2 title last year. He’s also a past Moto 3 world champion. He’s the only rider to win both of those championships.

On the Marc, Get Set, Go

Honda just signed Marc Marquez to a four-year contract extension, and why wouldn’t they? He is the king of MotoGP after all.  Marquez owns 40 different MotoGP records, including 62 poles won.

Yes, there were some photo finishes on the track last season. But in the majority of those photos, it was Marquez who got to the finish line first.

I’m very happy to announce my renewal with Honda HRC for the next 4 years and continue being part of this great family! We'll continue giving our best to achieve our goals! 😉@HRC_MotoGP #MM93 #4moreyears pic.twitter.com/vEpmfzAXgq

— Marc Márquez (@marcmarquez93) February 20, 2020

The other top riders in MotoGP have proven that they can run with Marquez. But until they show the ability to consistently run in front of him, Marquez remains the best bet in this sport.

Pick: Marc Marquez (-150).