P116
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
D
id you watch the open-
ing MotoGP round from
Jerez? Did you hear that
whooshing sound a couple of
laps from the end?
That's the sound of history in
the making. Or to put it another
way, marking the ceremony
known as "the changing of the
guard." This was always going
to be portentous but was surely
never meant to be quite so vio-
lent or so sudden, as the return
to MotoGP after the long lay-off
demonstrated not only how bril-
liant top-level racing can be but
also how cruel.
And that while we may ac-
cord god-like status to those of
towering talent and ability, racing
can also demonstrate that they
remain just human.
That's what everybody thought
at the time. Marquez's crash left
him with a broken right humer-
us—the big bone between elbow
and shoulder. This signaled an
inevitably long absence. It didn't
mean that his reign was over but
it would perforce be interrupted.
This was reckoning without
a level of determination that
refreshes that perception of su-
THE WHOOSH OF HISTORY
IN THE MAKING
To see Marc Marquez
ride out of pit lane on
Saturday was nothing
short of remarkable.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
