P108
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
T
he first person you must
beat is your teammate, rid-
ing the same bike. There's
no more direct measure.
The old cliché is especially
poignant for 2019. The pair-
ing of Jorge Lorenzo with Marc
Marquez on the class-leading
Repsol Hondas is potentially
spellbinding.
In some 40 years in MotoGP,
I can't recall a single example
quite so tasty. Trolling through
the records, there is at least one
surprise—just how often the out-
wardly calm Andrea Dovizioso's
name comes up in pairings from
hell.
Less surprising is that Lorenzo
appears on the list regularly. And
let it be said that in most of those
misalliances, he has ultimately
come out on top, one way or
another.
The ultimately, if indirectly
fatal, Yamaha in-team battles
between Phil Read and Bill Ivy
was a signal example in the
1960s. My memory goes to
the 1970s, when the ever-vocal
Barry Sheene sounded off about
the recruitment of Pat Hennen to
the Suzuki ranks. He explained
his resentment to me. He'd been
pushing for his good friend Gary
Nixon to take the slot, but the
American was badly injured in a
pre-season crash. Compatriot
Hennen was a last-minute re-
placement, and Barry resented
what he saw as the youngster's
rank opportunism.
TEAMMATES FROM HELL
All smiles now but will that last?
Could be an interesting season
for Repsol Honda.
