A scintillating duel and a master-class of superlative motorcycle riding.The youngest ever MotoGP champ has kicked off his title defence with a bang.
What gave away that the opening round of the Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) season opener at Qatar was a thrilling affair? Was it Honda’s defending champion Marc Marquez and former seven time champion Valentino Rossi of Yamaha pumping their fists wildly? Or greeting each other in parc ferme after the race like two adrenaline junkies who had provided each other a dose of a lifetime?
Quite simply it could have just been Rossi taking MotoGP as well as his own intensely loyal fans on a trip down memory lane with a drive that had become almost routine when he was dominating prior to the 2010 season.
A poor starting grid position was followed by a well thought out start designed to give him maximum grip and gumption to attack the pole-sitter in the later stages. From tenth on the grid, Rossi fought his way up the grid to engage in an almighty scrap with pole-man Marquez who didn’t give an inch to the Italian legend.
The Spaniard’s considerable – not to mention very obviously visible to those in attendance and in front of a television – ability to control and propel a 240 horsepower monster that weighs under 200 kilos (with his own 59 kilograms included) while it slides, stoppies and slithers under him through corners allowed him to hang on to win under the lights of the Losail circuit from Rossi by just 0.259 seconds.
SPLIT PERSONALITY
That very same ability allowed Marquez to have the polar opposite kind of victory at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin as he finished over four seconds ahead of Honda team-mate – seemingly constant bridesmaid – Dani Pedrosa.
With severe front tyre issues, the Yamahas of Rossi and two-time champion Jorge Lorenzo were languishing at the bottom end of the top ten and looking nothing like their competitive self in Qatar.
Lorenzo was at the sharp end of the grid before he crashed out in Losail and a tenth place in America did him no favors in trying to make up for it.
Marquez on the other hand seemed to be redefining the meaning of control in a MotoGP context. What else would you call repeatedly braking hard into a left hander with the bike’s rear partially in the air as he turned at the same time.
Go ahead and watch that video on YouTube if you saw it and couldn’t believe it.
BEHIND THE HEAVY HITTERS
Probably the only other Spanish rider who is likely to have such share Marquez’s pace and control is Maverick Vinales. After romping to the 2013 Moto3 title, Vinales has advanced to the Moto2 class and recovered from a fourth place in the opening round by winning at Austin.
The production line of talented Spanish riders continue unabated it seems as Marquez’s 17-year-old younger brother Alex is lurking in the junior categories too.
Not an enviable task for anyone willing to go up against not only Marquez but to withstand future talent.
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