Cycle News

VOLUME 56 ISSUE 26 JULY 2, 2019 P117 Marquez. And there is a different example which suggests the opposite: Valentino Rossi is in his 40s, and still a factor. He might find it harder to win races … indeed impossible for the past 24 months. It didn't stop him from trying, and sometimes com- ing desperately close. He's still trying, though it is obviously not getting any easier. But the tide of youth syn- drome is real enough, threaten- ing others perhaps more than Marquez, and embodied most spectacularly by the remarkable Fabio Quartararo, who only at the last race missed his chance of deposing Marquez as the youngest-ever premier-class race winner. This was in Catalu- nya, where he started from pole for the second time in his debut season, and finished a fighting second. This was in only his seventh race on a big bike, and (after a few relatively average Moto3 and Moto2 years) reminds us that he was the first to be drafted in to GP racing under age, after sweeping to two dominant CEV (aka "Junior World Champion- ship") titles before he was 16. The young Frenchman, who, at just 20, is both cheeky and pretty funny, has been astonish- ing. He's not just challenging the factory Yamahas but all too often outclassing them, certainly over single-lap qualifying runs. He was on pole at Jerez – only for his bike to fail while he was a strong second; fastest at Le Mans in FP1; fastest at Mugello in FP4, and qualified second. But is it just beginner's luck— much the same as that which enlightened Johann Zarco's first season on a satellite Yamaha, when he went straight into the lead in his first race, and was a major disturbance to the factory riders? Impossible to know. Though it is possible to measure Quar- tararo against both Zarco, who outranks him in having won two Moto2 titles to Quartararo's sin- gle Moto2 race; and Marquez, who was dominant in both of the junior classes before busting into MotoGP. How much does that mat- ter? It is Quartararo's present performance that is lighting the warning bonfires. And prompting serious questions about whether Yamaha will draft him into the factory team next year, leav- ing Rossi to decide whether he wants to play out the final year of his contract with the satellite team. This is written on the eve of the Dutch TT, where Quartararo started out by battling with Vina- les to set the best first-day time. What happens on race day will be instructive at the very least. But you could argue that Quartararo is not really the youngster that Marquez, Rossi et al need to worry about. Or not the only one. After a long spell when every- body thought the sport would die on its feet when Rossi retired, then another six years when Marquez dominated pretty much everything, there are encourag- ing signs of renewal and growth. Suzuki's Alex Rins is just 23, has already won one race on a bike that is nominally too slow to be a proper threat. Pecco Bagnaia, at 22, hasn't lived up to expectations, having turned into a serial crasher. But his immacu- late 2018 Moto2 title suggests that he'll get over it and become a big threat. At the same time, Jack Miller and Maverick Vinales are only 24, and seasoned race winners in MotoGP. Furthermore, Moto2's acquisi- tion of more advanced machin- ery is also promising more than before. The 765cc Triumph- powered bikes not only have more electronics and close-ratio gearboxes, but enough power for the riders to find different ways to express themselves, and learn new tricks. The likes of Baldassarri, Navarro, Marini and (finally) Alex Marquez are backed by Brad Binder, Remy Gardner and the rest. The future looks bright. CN

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