VOL. 50 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 17, 2013
P53
M
AGNIFICENT
Most believed Marc Marquez would win in 2013.
Not many thought he'd be the MotoGP World
Champion in his rookie season.
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
O
nce every generation or so, in
every sport, a phenomenal talent
comes along who rewrites the
ground rules. The establishment gets a
shake-up, standards are raised, and only
the very best can go with him. What usually happens next is a few years of total
domination, until age takes its toll and the
contest settles down again to an even
keel.
There can be no doubt that is exactly
what we saw in 2013 – the first part of it,
anyway.
Marc Marquez is a once-in-a-generation motorcycle racer, and he proved it
in his first MotoGP season, in every way
possible. It was a record-breaking run of
poles, rostrums and race wins culminating in the best "youngest-ever" achieve-
ment he could have hoped for: A World
Championship at his first attempt.
The stature of the riders whose records
he broke tell you everything: most of them
belonged to Fast Freddie Spencer; and
the only other rookie to win in the top
class was King Kenny Roberts. Legends,
both of them. Matched by a new legend
in the making.
A list of his achievements runs from a
full house of rostrums every time he finished to surviving the fastest-ever Grand
Prix crash – he was still travelling at well
over 200 mph when he jumped off his
Repsol Honda at Mugello.
The way of accomplishing them was at
maximum risk, displaying maximum skill.
This was supposed to be a learning year
for the reigning Moto2 World Champion,
and so it was. Nobody could remember
seeing such a fast learner. Imagine how
he will be with one year's experience.
